News / International
Virgin Atlantic plane makes emergency landing at Gatwick airport
29 Dec 2014 at 15:32hrs | Views
The plane landed back at the West Sussex airport - BBC
London - A Virgin Atlantic flight performed a "non-standard" landing at London's Gatwick airport on Monday after a landing gear problem, with television pictures showing the plane intact and stationary on the runway.
Earlier Virgin Atlantic said: "Flight VS43 ... [has] returned to London Gatwick due to a technical issue with one of the landing gears," Virgin Atlantic said in a statement. "The aircraft is preparing to implement a non-standard landing procedure at Gatwick airport".
Flight tracking site flightradar24.com listed the aircraft as a Boeing 747. Data on the site and Virgin's own website showed it had left Gatwick for Las Vegas at 11:28 GMT before turning around shortly after passing the west coast of Britain. The plane was last shown heading back towards Gatwick.
Virgin Atlantic is 51% owned by its founder, British billionaire Richard Branson and 49% owned by US carrier Delta Air Lines.
Earlier Virgin Atlantic said: "Flight VS43 ... [has] returned to London Gatwick due to a technical issue with one of the landing gears," Virgin Atlantic said in a statement. "The aircraft is preparing to implement a non-standard landing procedure at Gatwick airport".
Flight tracking site flightradar24.com listed the aircraft as a Boeing 747. Data on the site and Virgin's own website showed it had left Gatwick for Las Vegas at 11:28 GMT before turning around shortly after passing the west coast of Britain. The plane was last shown heading back towards Gatwick.
Virgin Atlantic is 51% owned by its founder, British billionaire Richard Branson and 49% owned by US carrier Delta Air Lines.
Source - Reuters
