Moscow, Feb 7 (IANS) An Amsterdam-bound passenger plane returned safely to Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, following a partial failure of the radio communication system.

On Saturday, flight Su2694 operated by Russian flag acrrier carrier Aeroflot had to make a U-turn shortly after takeoff when the pilot reported the problem, Xinhua news agency quoted the company's spokesman Mikhail Demin as saying.

It was reported that the Airbus A320 passenger plan had issued a distress call about 20 minutes after takeoff at an altitude of about 8,000 metres over the Tver Region, TASS News Agency reported.

Demin said then that the pilot had sent a message about a partial failure of the radio communication system and decided to fly back to the departure airport.

The spokesman added that the lives and health of the passengers and crew were not in danger and that the airliner was burning off the fuel.

--IANS ksk/