Virgin Atlantic flight makes precautionary landing at Gatwick Airport

A Virgin Atlantic flight headed towards Barbados turned back to Gatwick Airport about an hour into the flight.  A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic said that “There was no emergency landing at Gatwick – it was simply a precautionary landing.”

The flight was onboard a Boeing 747 and carried 320 passengers and around 15 crewmembers.  Upon its return at Gatwick airport it was taken to a remote location where passengers were allowed to disembark. 

Passengers described hearing an engine cutoff and saw flames coming out the back of one of the engines for several feet.  Ruben Jackson was travelling with his family on the flight and happened to be sitting next to the wing.  Jacks said “Flames started coming from the number one engine – they were 12 to 15ft from the engine. The engine kept cutting out and the flames were shooting out as it was trying to start.”

Passengers onboard the plane were not ready to fly to Barbados on that particular aircraft after returning to the airport.  Reuben said that “People were apprehensive about taking off again in that plane.  They were saying they wouldn’t get back on because of what happened in Madrid.”

A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic said that ‘The problem was a technical issue. There was no engine fire. We turned the plane back because the captain became aware of a technical problem. The captain thought, ‘I’m going to return to Gatwick as a precautionary measure.’ We treat safety as a highest priority.”

www.virgin-atlantic.com