Virgin Atlantic flight back in UK after 'laser incident'
A crew member is recorded saying to Irish air traffic control that they had a "medical issue with one of the pilots after a laser incident after take-off".
It happened at 20:13 GMT, shortly after take-off, the company said, before flight VS025 returned as a precaution.
There were 252 passengers and 15 crew on board.
The crew member told air traffic that the incident took place six to seven miles west of Heathrow.
Virgin Atlantic said it was working with the authorities to identify the source of the laser.
Julian Bray, an aviation security expert, said such incidents were becoming fairly common, and were a potential threat to the safety of the entire plane.
A total of 414 "laser incidents" in the UK were reported to the Civil Aviation Authority between January and June 2015.
