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A United Airlines plane aborted its transatlantic journey and diverted to London today because the flight crew apparently wasn't satisfied with the de-icing effort it received in Brussels.

The Boeing 777-200 was flying from Brussels Airport to Washington, DC, when it turned around and landed at Heathrow Airport at 1:20pm, less than 90 minutes after its departure.

A Heathrow spokesman told MailOnline Travel that the aircraft diverted to Europe's busiest airport for additional de-icing.

A Heathrow spokesman said the aircraft diverted to the London airport for additional de-icing

This map shows the plane's flight path to Heathrow Airport after circling the skies south of London

A spokesman for United Airlines said the plane was carrying 227 passengers and 14 crew when it landed in order to deal with a 'mechanical issue'.

Shortly after the plane landed the spokesman said: 'Our maintenance team is currently inspecting the aircraft.

'We are making arrangements for our customers to complete their journeys.'

The Boeing 777-200 turned around over Wales and then flew over Bristol before landing at Heathrow 

A United Airlines spokesman says the plane was carrying 227 passengers and 14 crew to Washington

The spokesman added: 'We regret any inconvenience experienced by our customers.'

A flight radar map showed the plane flying south of Swindon before turning around over Wales and flying over Bristol.

It then flew south over Reading and circled over Surrey before landing at Heathrow.

During the de-icing process chemicals are sprayed onto a plane's surface to remove snow, ice or frost and prevent a build-up that can disrupt a plane's air flow and threaten a safe take-off.