Flights to London’s Gatwick Airport are being diverted and departures delayed pending the removal of a Virgin Atlantic plane that made an emergency landing Monday, the airport says.
Flight VS43 landed safely at Gatwick after developing a technical fault with its landing gear en route to Las Vegas, Virgin Atlantic said.
An airport spokesman said that passengers from the flight had disembarked but that the aircraft remained on the runway.
“The runway has been closed until the aircraft can be removed from the runway and based on current predictions it is not expected to reopen until at least 18.00 (6 p.m. GMT).
“Currently no flights are departing Gatwick and inbound flights are being diverted to other airports,” the spokesman said. The airport advised passengers to check with airlines on the status of their flights.
Gatwick earlier said it had put its emergency services on standby for VS43 — a Boeing 747 — to make a “non-standard landing.”
“In line with standard procedure, emergency services are on standby at the airport purely as a precaution,” it said on Twitter.
Virgin Atlantic’s Richard Branson praised the plane’s pilots on Twitter: “Well done @virginatlantic pilots & team for safe & skillful landing of #VS43. Thoughts with passengers & crew, thanks for support & patience.”
Virgin Atlantic CEO Craig Kreeger said in a statement that the airline understood that the incident would have significantly disrupted people’s holiday plans.
“We will make sure they are well looked after this evening, and will be operating a special flight tomorrow for everyone who would like to continue their journey,” he said. Virgin Atlantic would ensure there was a seat for everyone, Kreeger said.
