Virgin Atlantic turns flight back to UK after laser incident

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A Virgin Atlantic flight heading to New York returned to London Heathrow airport on Sunday after a "laser beam incident", the British airline said.

The company said in a statement that it had returned flight VS025 to London Heathrow airport as a precautionary measure shortly after take-off when one of its pilots was taken ill following the incident.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) said it was working with authorities to identify the source of the laser beam, which media reports said had been shone into the cockpit from the ground.

"The safety of our crew and customers is our top priority and we apologise for any inconvenience to those onboard," the airline said. (Reporting by Li-mei Hoang; Editing by Greg Mahlich)