Virgin Australia flight turns back to LA after window crack

A Virgin Australia flight bound for Brisbane was turned back to Los Angeles after a crack was found in the passenger jet's windscreen, the airline said Thursday.

Flight VA8 was forced to return to the US airport late Wednesday "as a precautionary measure" after the "detection of a crack in the aircraft's windscreen", Virgin Australia said in a statement.

"Engineers are working to rectify the issue, and we are doing everything we can to get passengers on their way as quickly as possible," it added.

The plane, reported to be a Boeing 777, was just 30 minutes into its flight when the crack was discovered, Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper reported.

Shari Price, a passenger on the plane, told news website ninemsn that "I think everyone started to worry in their own heads" about what was going on.

"When we landed it sounded more serious than what they had let on in the air which was obviously to keep us calm."