Virgin Atlantic passenger plane has landed safely at London’s Gatwick Airport after discovering a problem with part of its main landing gear.
Virgin flight VS43 with 447 passengers and 15crew was travelling from Gatwick to Las Vegas when it had to return.
The Boeing 747 circled over southern England for several hours dumping fuel before making a bumpy but safe landing just before 16:00 GMT.
Gatwick’s runway was shut to all air traffic causing severe delays.
Aircraft due to land at Gatwick were being diverted to other London airports, while departing flights were being delayed. Passengers are being advised to check the airport’s website or contact their airline.
Flashing lights of emergency vehicles could be seen close to the plane, which landed without its full set of landing gear.
Ambulances and fire-and-rescue crews had been on standby as the plane circled the airport in the hours after it took off for the US late yesterday morning.
Before the successful conclusion to the incident, Virgin announced the plane would be carrying out a “non-standard landing procedure” at Gatwick airport.
Pictures of the 747 circling over East Sussex – to burn off fuel – were shared on social media
The problem affected part of the 747’s right main landing gear
The issue meant the aircraft had to land on three of its four main landing gear
Eyewitnesses reported the jet was flying at relatively low altitude and the pilot appeared to be trying to “shake” the landing gear down.
Nick Hughes, who was on board, said the crew made several attempts to try to free the landing gear.
“They put the thrust on quite heavily and then dipped down, I think, to try and loosen the gears but obviously nothing kind of worked.
“They gave it every opportunity before they tried the emergency landing. All credit due to the crew and the staff and of course the pilots because the landing was probably one of the softest landings I’ve ever had.”
Another passenger, Hardeek Desai, said: “The staff were trying to keep everyone calm but a few passengers were a bit panicky. One of the crew came out to the seating area to reassure everyone everything was going to be OK.
“The staff were giving out things like drinks and water to everyone to make sure everyone’s OK. Generally, the mood was pretty good at this point until we hit the brace position.”
Describing the mood on the plane as it was circling, passenger Dan Crane, 24, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, said it was “anxious, a lot were worried, some crying. The mood was quiet, just waiting for the captain’s next announcement.”
Mr Crane, who is with family and friends, said the crew kept everyone informed, adding: “They said it was an emergency landing and we had to brace on impact.”
Another passenger, Mike Kaufman, said: “This was one of the greatest emergency landings in history. It was very smooth.”
He praised the pilots and the cabin crew, saying the landing had been “textbook”.
Virgin Atlantic chief executive Craig Kreeger said: “I am very pleased to confirm that all customers and crew have now disembarked the VS43 flight to Las Vegas, which returned to Gatwick airport this afternoon following a problem with one of the landing gear.”
Virgin Atlantic president Sir Richard Branson tweeted: “Well done @VirginAtlantic pilots & team for safe & skilful landing of #VS43. Thoughts with passengers & crew, thanks for support & patience.”
A spokesman for British pilots’ organisation Balpa said: “Pilots train hard for exactly this kind of situation. It goes to show that well-trained pilots are vital.”
Also yesterday, it was declared that the missing AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 is likely to be at the bottom of the sea, the head of Indonesia’s search-and-rescue agency said yesterday.
Bambang Soelistyo said the hypothesis was based on the co-ordinates of the plane when contact with it was lost.
The search for the Airbus A320-200, which disappeared with 162 people on board on Sunday on a flight to Singapore, has ended for a second day.
The search area will be widened on today.
Indonesia has asked for US help in searching for the plane, the US state department said, adding that it was considering the request.
The pilots had requested a course change because of bad weather but did not send any distress call before the plane disappeared from radar screens between Borneo and Sumatra.
“Based on the co-ordinates given to us and evaluation that the estimated crash position is in the sea, the hypothesis is the plane is at the bottom of the sea,” Mr Soelistyo told a news conference in Jakarta.
I boarded a military aircraft at 06:00 at a base in Jakarta and was on board for 10 hours, seven of which were spent searching over the Java Sea near Belitung island.
It took us about two hours to reach the area where the authorities believe the plane was when it lost contact with air traffic control in Jakarta.
Our plane was flying very low – about 300-450m (1,000-1,500ft) above sea level. The weather was very clear and the waters relatively calm.
From the aircraft I could just see the water, a small island and a few fishing boats. The search team was trying to find wreckage or some signal from the missing plane. They were looking at the sea through small windows.
I did the same thing, checking the windows every 15 minutes. But I saw nothing.
At around 14:00 the search team found a slick of oil, but the authorities weren’t sure where it had come from.
Announcing the end of the day’s searching, Mr Soelistyo said that today the search area would be widened to cover West Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, and the southern parts of the waters off the coast of Belitung island.
Weather conditions yesterday were very good, he said, but helicopters involved in the search lacked the visual equipment for searching at night.
The search would continue to focus on oil slicks seen yesterday, Mr Soelistyo added, though it is not clear whether they were caused by the plane. Some ships were still searching for the plane, he added.
