A British Airways flight was diverted to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport early Wednesday because of a medical emergency involving a crew member, aviation officials said.

Flight 268 was flying from Los Angeles to Heathrow Airport near London, when it was diverted and landed in the Twin Cities, according to British Airways spokeswoman Michele Kropf.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the person who fell ill was a crew member.

"The health and safety of our customers and crew is always a priority," Kropf said.

Airport spokeswoman Melissa Scovronski said the plane arrived about 3:15 a.m. and that "because of the time of day, crew and equipment were not available so they decided to make air stairs available [to remove the ailing person]. An ambulance was waiting."

Scovronski said fire department personnel were brought in to assist.

There is no word on the person's condition, but a spokeswoman for Allina says medical personnel met the plane and transported the patient to United Hospital in St. Paul.

Former CNN anchor Piers Morgan was aboard the Airbus A380 and tweeted, "My BA flight from LA-London has been diverted to Minneapolis after medical emergency involving young stewardess. Hope she's OK."

The airline confirmed the person needing medical assistance was a crew member.

The Airbus, the world's largest commercial aircraft flying today with a capacity of 525 passengers, left the Twin Cities airport at 6:15 a.m. It was arrived into Heathrow at 7:23 p.m. local time.

Vineeta Sawkar • 612-673-7424