WATCH: Virgin Atlantic plane comes in for a safe landing after issue with landing gear
TORONTO – A Virgin Atlantic 747 landed safely at Gatwick airport, just east of London, England after its landing gear failed to fully retract.
Virgin Atlantic confirmed flight VS43, enroute to Las Vegas, returned to London Gatwick airspace due to a technical issue with one of its landing gears.
The aircraft was preparing for a “non-standard landing” at the airport.
Emergency crews were dispatched and streets around the airport had to be closed.
The flight took off from Gatwick just before noon local time and landed safely about four hours later.
https://twitter.com/VatsimPilot/status/549618041911513088/photo/1
Passenger Mike Kaufman said the crew remained calm and professional throughout the four-hour crisis.
“Everybody gave the crew a big round of applause when we landed,” he told Sky News from the plane. “I can’t wait to get into the terminal and have a gin and tonic now.”
The incident is the latest scare in a string of air travel incidents in the past 24 hours.
Late Sunday night, an Air Canada flight enroute from Calgary to London, England was diverted to Toronto after crew detected an electrical odour on board.
The flight turned around before Greenland and headed to Toronto where it landed safely at Pearson airport at 5:09 a.m.
Also on Sunday, two Porter Airline flights out of Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport were diverted.
The D.C.-bound flight was forced to land in Williamsport, Pa. when smoke entered the flight deck and cabin shortly after it took off at 8 a.m.
The second flight, bound for Sudbury, Ontario had to return to Toronto because of smoke inside the plane.
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