Dramatic footage of United flight UA28, carrying 227 passengers and 13 crew, dumping fuel before making an emergency landing at London's Heathrow airport on Wednesday.

The footage, captured by a passenger seated above the wing and sent using Snapchat to her friends shows the fuel spilling from the aircraft - a safety technique used in emergencies to prevent damage to the plane from overweight landings.

The flight took off from Heathrow earlier Wednesday bound for New Jersey, US before an unknown "maintenance issue" caused the incident. The aircraft circled above the English Channel for hours, burning fuel, and even make an emergency dump of fuel into the ocean.

After a number of hours of mid-air manoeuvres, the Boeing 767-400 aircraft had to return to Heathrow, causing chaos for passengers. Nobody was injured in the incident and the aircraft landed safely.

Dramatic footage of United flight UA28, carrying 227 passengers and 13 crew, dumping fuel before making an emergency landing at London's Heathrow airport on Wednesday.

The footage, captured by a passenger seated above the wing and sent using Snapchat to her friends shows the fuel spilling from the aircraft - a safety technique used in emergencies to prevent damage to the plane from overweight landings.

The flight took off from Heathrow earlier Wednesday bound for New Jersey, US before an unknown "maintenance issue" caused the incident. The aircraft circled above the English Channel for hours, burning fuel, and even make an emergency dump of fuel into the ocean.

After a number of hours of mid-air manoeuvres, the Boeing 767-400 aircraft had to return to Heathrow, causing chaos for passengers. Nobody was injured in the incident and the aircraft landed safely.