A LATAM Airlines long haul flight inbound to London Heathrow from São Paulo, Brazil has declared an emergency whilst inbound to London.

LATAM Airlines Sao Paolo – London Heathrow

LATAM Airlines flight LA8084, a Boeing 777-300ER operating from São Paulo (GRU) to London Heathrow (LHR) has declared a general emergency, squawking 7700 as it passed to the west of France enroute.

The LATAM Boeing 777 declared a general emergency whilst in the cruise as it tracked to the west of France inbound to the south coast approach to London Heathrow airport.

The nature of the emergency is not known at this stage. The aircraft in question is Boeing 777-300ER registered PT-MUC, a 14 year old aircraft belonging to the Santiago-based carrier LATAM Airlines.

UPDATE 14:00 BST

The LATAM flight now approaching the English south coast, maintaining cruising level FL320.

The aircraft is currently negotiating a descent as it passes into the London Flight Information Region (FIR). Passing through 12,000 feet on approach to London. Weather is VFR (visual) for the flight’s arrival.

UPDATE 1430 BST

Flight LA8084 is now on descent through 8,000 feet and setting up for an approach to Heathrow RWY 09. The adjusted ETA for the flight is now 1441 BST.

Established finals RWY 09. The flight originally departed São Paulo (GRU) at 00.21 BRT after a slight delay of approximately half and hour. Scheduled departure time was 23.50 BRT.

LATAM Airlines Group (previously known as LAN Airlines and TAM Airlines) is the largest airline in Latin America, with operations in 20 countries. It is headquartered in Santiago, Chile.

Originally formed in 2012 through the merger of LAN Airlines and TAM Airlines, the South American carrier currently operates a fleet of over 300 aircraft and serves over 140 destinations.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.