The plane carrying Prime Minister Anthony Albanese home from his successful trip to Washington has been forced into an unscheduled landing in the US.

After taking off from Andrews Air Force Base, the Royal Australian Air Force Airbus A330-200 taking the prime minister home was meant to fly directly to Hawaii but unexpectedly landed in St Louis, Missouri, after less than an hour in the air.

The move is a precautionary one after a piece of luggage fell from an overhead locker and hit another passenger on the aircraft.

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"It looks like there's been a little mishap inside the plane," 9News national affairs editor Andrew Probyn said.

"We're told it's not very serious, but as a precaution...

"It looks like o

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