By Michael Garko, In Airline News
An Orlando-bound Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330-300 had to make an emergency landing at London’s Gatwick Airport after a small fire was reported on the plane.
Photo courtesy Airbus
The flight, VS27, was carrying 299 passengers and 13 crew before landing safely nearly two hours after it had departed the British airport.
“Due to a technical problem, the captain decided as a precautionary measure to immediately evacuate the aircraft,” Virgin Atlantic said in a statement.
The airline reported that there were four minor injuries to passengers, but declined to provide further details on those passengers.
A Gatwick spokesperson told the Washington Post that the emergency caused the airport to remain closed for two hours before opening a backup runway.
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The number needing hospital treatment eventually reached 15. Apparently the incident was caused by a ‘technical fault’ (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-17788627)