Plane seen circling repeatedly over Derbyshire after departing East Midlands Airport

The ABX Air cargo flight to Chicago took off from the airport shortly before 3pm on Thursday, July 30.

It turned back when west of Ireland after some fluctuations in one of the engines were detected, flight tracking revealed.

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The Boeing 767-300 aircraft then began circling at an altitude of around 7,000ft over Derbyshire, with sightings in Belper, Holbrook and Wirksworth reported.

A spokesperson for East Midlands Airport said: "The ABX Air cargo flight to Chicago detected some fluctuations in one of the engines.

"The aircraft turned back and, once it was safe to do so, landed.

"It had to circle for a while to use up excess fuel to make it safer to land."

The airport confirmed the aircraft safely landed with both engines working normally.

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