Virgin Atlantic flight VS3, which took off from Heathrow Airport for New York on Monday (2), was forced to turn back after 40 minutes in the air and return to the runway in London, according to CNN.
The aircraft was already flying over Ireland when the captain was told that the copilot had not completed the training required to fly.
The company said the copilot has been part of its team since 2017 and is qualified to fly under UK regulations, but must complete a “final assessment” on a Virgin flight to take on the role. The captain, on the other hand, was classified by the company as “very experienced” he is said to have been an employee of the company for 17 years but had no pilot trainer status. Therefore, the copilot had to be changed.
According to the British newspaper Daily Mail, passengers of the VS3 landed almost three hours later than planned at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. They were instructed to wait on the track until a replacement was found.
“We had just arrived on the west coast of Ireland when the captain announced, ‘You may have noticed that we have made a 180º turn.’ He then informed us that due to an administrative error we were returning to Heathrow and that they needed to sign some papers so we could legally continue our journey,” passenger Julie Vincent told the Mail.
You can’t invent this stuff!! Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330300, operating flight VS3 to New York, was forced to return to Heathrow after the captain was told the first officer had not completed his training pic.twitter.com/xQpfx2UTp9
Tapiwa Munjoma (@TapiwaMunjoma) May 5, 2022
The company would also have assured travelers that their safety was not compromised during the 40 minutes they were in the air as both pilots held licenses and qualifications to operate the aircraft.
“We asked several times what was going on and all we were told was that it’s not cool to be airborne and that we have to go back so an engineer can assess if it’s safe for us to travel,” said the passenger, also recalled. Even after landing at Heathrow, travelers were kept on the plane and their inflight meals were served before the new departure.
“At least three people wearing safety vests entered the cockpit for a while before the curtains were closed. We were held on the plane while offered water and awaited an update. One of the crew members announced very loudly to the other that the ovens were not working.”.
According to the passenger, given the uncertainty and with only one car, service progressed slowly and the plane finally took off with the new copilot.
The British Civil Aviation Authority confirmed to CNN that “both pilots were properly licensed and qualified to fly”.
Virgin Atlantic expressed regret over the incident through a spokesman. “We apologize for any inconvenience caused to our customers, who arrived two hours and forty minutes later than planned due to the crew change,” a spokesman for the Mail said.