An American Airlines plane was forced to dump thousands of pounds of fuel over the lake yesterday, in order to land safely at O'Hare International Airport after it experienced mechanical problems, according to an AA spokesperson.

Officials from the Chicago Department of Aviation and American Airlines said flight 137 took off from Chicago at 9 p.m. on Sunday, bound for Beijing, and returned to O'Hare Airport around 10:30 p.m. without incident.

The plane, with 249 passengers aboard, had to dump 151,000 pounds, said AA spokesperson Ed Martelle.