View Full Version : Virgin VS28 emergency landing at Gatwick
jimiansville
16-04-2012, 12:50
SKY News reporting that Virgin VS28 flight from Gatwick to Orlando had to return to the airport and make an emergency landing after smoke reported in cabin about an hour into the flight today. Everyone safe after emergency evacuation but aircraft is blocking the runway so no flights in or out.
It's one of the new A300 aircraft which developed a technical fault.
It was the V27 flight on an A330-300 Airbus with more than 300 people on board. How terrifying. Looks like flights in and out of Gatwick are suspended until 3.00 this afternoon, so this will have knock on effects. Thank goodness everyone landed safely.
UPDATE
MY daughter and family were on the flight on her way to join us in Florida.
We have spoken to her and some of the reports seem a bit OTT. There ws no fire that she saw only a bit of smoke at the front section. (Looks as if it was brought in by the A/C system)
Some people had cuts and grazes from the trip down the chute but all are now being held in a special holding area and not allowed back into the airport.
Once down the chute she was under the engine and could see a few fumes from that area. They have just been told that the aircraft will be declared safe shortly which means that people will be allowed on board row by row to collect personal items left behind.
They is currently no news from Virgin about what they plan to do with everyone.
Regards Dave
Update 16:05 BST
Just been told that they are not flying today and will be put up in hotel tonight.
They are trying to put people on planes that have spaces tomorrow.
Same will apply to people who were due home on that plane from Orlando tonight.
Dave
So glad to hear your daughter and family are safe and sound, Dave. Better that they returned to Gatwick, just in case. Hope they make it out to Orlando tomorrow.
kerrigan
16-04-2012, 22:34
Oh my, how frightening for them.
Hazel.
It seems that Virgin are putting on one of the older 747's tomorrow to fly everyone to Orlando that wants to go. Current take off is set for 3:00pm.
Dave
Katys Grandad
17-04-2012, 02:02
Are many choosing not to go now?
Some are not going but I do not know how many.
If you see quotes in any of the papers tomorrow from Kirsty Bonwick it because my son called LBC as he had talked to her to give them an update. They then dropped the current program for 15 minutes while they did a phone interview.
Some of the quotes from that have been picked up by news agencies and now seem to be popping up all over the place.
Dave
Robert5988
17-04-2012, 07:25
It will be interesting to see the results of the investigation. The Captain obviously thought it was urgent to evacuate the plane quickly and thus deploy the chutes.
The couple of minor injuries that Virgin announced at first, turned out to be 14 with broken limbs/ribs etc.
florida4sun
17-04-2012, 10:53
Deploying shutes is standard practice with any suspected fire or smoke on a plane, no matter how little. They would not risk hanging around for a docking station or steps.
Talked to my daughter in Gatwick this morning. It would seem from what she saw that most of the injurys were caused by people going off the end of the chute and then sliding across the runway. There were also a couple of cases of people hitting others at the bottom.
When you see the emergency video I always thought that they showed a crew member helping people off so this did not happen but maybe this is not the case now.
Virgin seem to be giving out letters to everyone that tells them they can have a free return flight on any Virgin route except Austraila in the next 18 months.
At least they seem to be trying to keep everyone happy.
Dave
ShirleyD
17-04-2012, 15:58
Talked to my daughter in Gatwick this morning. It would seem from what she saw that most of the injurys were caused by people going off the end of the chute and then sliding across the runway. There were also a couple of cases of people hitting others at the bottom.
When you see the emergency video I always thought that they showed a crew member helping people off so this did not happen but maybe this is not the case now.
Virgin seem to be giving out letters to everyone that tells them they can have a free return flight on any Virgin route except Austraila in the next 18 months.
At least they seem to be trying to keep everyone happy.
Dave
They have to be able to get everyone off in 90 seconds and it is quite common to have a few bumps and broken bones when the slides are used. It's not a nice experience but it sounds like the crew did a good job.
A few broken bones are probably neither here nor there compared to being trapped in a burning plane. On the chutes, I had also thought a crew member would have gone out first, but I suppose they are better at the top of the chute chucking people out of the door rather than catching them at the bottom. It probably wouldn't look too good for crew members to leap out first and then leg it at the bottom, leaving the passengers behind to sort themselves out. It would be interesting to know the approved procedure.
What a nightmare to go through.
So am I the only one that's wanted to have a shot on one of the chutes?
I'll just be leaving now, I mean, everyone got off safely, no harm done, come on Captain, just one more shot on the chute before it's time for bed ... pleeeeeaaaaaase.
Katys Grandad
17-04-2012, 16:50
I'd be glad it wasn't a 747. The shute drop from the upper deck looks a long way and almost vertical. You'd be almost guaranteed to have a very hard landing.
Looks like it went as well as could be expected which is a credit to all concerned.
steph_goodrum
17-04-2012, 21:16
So am I the only one that's wanted to have a shot on one of the chutes?
I'll just be leaving now, I mean, everyone got off safely, no harm done, come on Captain, just one more shot on the chute before it's time for bed ... pleeeeeaaaaaase.
I wouldn't mind as long as I'm not after the man who won't take off his spurs:) See I do watch the safety video but having watched Quincy once when he did a simulation to work out how many people would actually be able to find and get on life vests in a real emergency, hope I never have to follow it. It must be a very frighteniing experience when it's for real.
I agree and while my comment was tongue in cheek, I wouldn't be nearly so flippant if the outcome had been otherwise.
bargainqueen
18-04-2012, 05:48
Makes me feel quesy just thinking about it, as I know I'd be one of the ones with broken bones. Without help I'd be unable to get up before the next person arrives at the bottom.
DaveL - Were the passengers given back their luggage to take to hotel? Just wondering whether to start packing "emergency essentials" in hand luggage.
Katys Grandad
18-04-2012, 06:46
Makes me feel quesy just thinking about it, as I know I'd be one of the ones with broken bones. Without help I'd be unable to get up before the next person arrives at the bottom.
DaveL - Were the passengers given back their luggage to take to hotel? Just wondering whether to start packing "emergency essentials" in hand luggage.
You'd be leaving your hand baggage behind anyway in these circumstances.
steph_goodrum
18-04-2012, 11:16
I know they were allowed back onto collect it at some stage but dont know if it was before they were taken to an hotel.
No one was allowed back onto the aircraft at any time. Some passengers did not get their hand baggage back until the next day.
My daughter had medical equipement in her so it was removed on a priority basis. Even so she did not get it back until early evening in the hotel. She had to describe the bags and say which seats she was in. I'm guessing that as they are not sure what has happened they are limit the people on board.
They did not see thier hold luggage until they arrived at MCO last night. Virgin handed out toothbrushes and spare pairs of knickers (go figure) to those that wanted them and also said that people would be reimbused for essential items they had purchased ( No iPads ).
The replacement plane also left late and did not arrive at MCO until 7:20pm, on the plus side the crew were OTT with offering anything people wanted.
Virgin have offered a free flight like I reported yesterday and also given everyone a voucher for $100 of attraction tickets.
Dave
steph_goodrum
18-04-2012, 21:08
No one was allowed back onto the aircraft at any time. Some passengers did not get their hand baggage back until the next day.
My daughter had medical equipement in her so it was removed on a priority basis. Even so she did not get it back until early evening in the hotel. She had to describe the bags and say which seats she was in. I'm guessing that as they are not sure what has happened they are limit the people on board.
They did not see thier hold luggage until they arrived at MCO last night. Virgin handed out toothbrushes and spare pairs of knickers (go figure) to those that wanted them and also said that people would be reimbused for essential items they had purchased ( No iPads ).
The replacement plane also left late and did not arrive at MCO until 7:20pm, on the plus side the crew were OTT with offering anything people wanted.
Virgin have offered a free flight like I reported yesterday and also given everyone a voucher for $100 of attraction tickets.
Dave
Sorry Dave
It was your report yesterday that said
"They have just been told that the aircraft will be declared safe shortly which means that people will be allowed on board row by row to collect personal items left behind."
that led me to understand they had been allowed to collect their belongings.
That report was based on what they told my daughter at the time. I guess it may have been wishful thinking on the part of the staff member.
It looks as if the aircraft was delared safe but what ever the problem was the air accident investigators did not what anyone to go on board.
Dave
Katys Grandad
19-04-2012, 04:32
Even where there might be other good reasons (which appears to be the case here), the logistics of allowing people back onto the aircraft of that size to collect their belonging would be enough to prevent it happening. Much easier and practical for it to be done by ground staff and distributed to the passengers afterwards.
I often wonder how passengers actually react in these circumstances and just how it's all sorted out. I'd imagine that a lot of passengers (maybe most of them) would be immediately left with no money/credit cards, passports, phone, never mind things like clean clothes and toiletries. I'm sure there are contingency plans and thankfully this seems to have ended without serious harm to anybody but how well the plan actually works is something I'd love to know.
bargainqueen
19-04-2012, 05:12
Sorry Dave
It was your report yesterday that said
"They have just been told that the aircraft will be declared safe shortly which means that people will be allowed on board row by row to collect personal items left behind."
that led me to understand they had been allowed to collect their belongings.
My earlier reply was also based on this comment, I do realise that you're not allowed to take anything off with you down the shutes.
My husband has always laughed at me for my just in case packing in my hand luggage, I have cut that down but this experience was making me think again. Now I know that in most instances neither luggage was returned I'll pack as normal.
Thanks for reporting the facts Dave and glad to read that your daughter has arrived safely. Hope they enjoy the rest of their holiday.
Some of you may have already heard my daughter talk about this as she was interviewed for LBC. This was then copied to SKY and has now been play on local radio as far away as New Zealand.
It's interesting that what she talks about bear no relationship to the title of the piece; but that's the media for you. If your interested I have put a link below.
Dave
http://www.lbc.co.uk/listen-woman-reveals-terror-of-being-on-fire-flight-53723
Just listened to this and am just wondering how someone with a young baby would have managed on the chute? (We are thinking of taking our daughter and Grandson out in September he will be 5mths then)
There were some babies and younger children on the flight but not that many as half term had finished the previous week. They did all get down but my daughter did not see how. She was only one row from the exit so was out very quickly.
I just wonder what would have happened if this had been in the school holidays with a higher count of younger children.
I recall seeing a program a few years ago about how they designed and built the A380. Part of the process was proving that an aircraft of that size could be fully evacuted, in maximum configuration within the proscribe time (which I think is 90 secounds). They do this with teams of people from the factory who both know what they are doing and have practiced it. I seem to recall that on the first attempt at gettting the certificate they still failed.
We are in Florida at the moment and will not be flying back with Virgin as we have book on a cruise to come home. ( Note to self must check how fast you can launch a lifeboat)
Regards Dave
We are in Florida at the moment and will not be flying back with Virgin as we have book on a cruise to come home. ( Note to self must check how fast you can launch a lifeboat)
Regards Dave
Now that brings up another interesting topic after the problems on the Concordia
thornton
20-04-2012, 12:18
From what I have read on another forum posted by someone who was on the flight it appears that the Virgin cabin crew were disorganised themselves. They weren't helping people down the shutes, allowing them to follow on far too quickly from one another and also allowing some people to take the hand trolleys with them.
I can imagine, though, it is an extreme situation and despite all the training that you could do, not something that would happen as smoothly as you would ideally like it to happen. Throw into the mix a plane full of the general public ... [msneek][msneek][msneek][msneek] ... personally I think that they have done well.
I have to say that based on what my daughter siad they did quite well. People should not take anyhting with them but if they turn up at the chute door what meant to happen? They can hardly be sent back.
The priority is to get everyone off the plane in case their is a real problem. A few cuts and scrapes are a small price to pay if the emergency had turned out to be more serious.
On a different note staffing levels on the big jets, excluding the pilots, all seem to be the number of emergency exits plus one or two extra. The A330 seemed to have 10 cabin crew which allowed them to have one at the top of each of the 8 chutes. Unless they have a vast increase in cabin crew there will never be anyone to help at the bottom of the chute.
Dave
steph_goodrum
20-04-2012, 20:42
I have to say that based on what my daughter siad they did quite well. People should not take anyhting with them but if they turn up at the chute door what meant to happen? They can hardly be sent back.
The priority is to get everyone off the plane in case their is a real problem. A few cuts and scrapes are a small price to pay if the emergency had turned out to be more serious.
On a different note staffing levels on the big jets, excluding the pilots, all seem to be the number of emergency exits plus one or two extra. The A330 seemed to have 10 cabin crew which allowed them to have one at the top of each of the 8 chutes. Unless they have a vast increase in cabin crew there will never be anyone to help at the bottom of the chute.
Dave
The problem is as well that if they sent someone down the chutes first they would probably be accused of helping themselves first and also if there is someone on board who needs more assistance there should be crew left to help them. I know there was a suspected fire but you would have imagined that ground staff would be on hand very quickly to help evacuate once they know the plane has landed safely. they were 30 mins out so they could be pretty much in place before the plane arrived.
I was surprised when I heard them talking about the lack of help they received on exiting the shutes however, it is not something that I expected the cabin crew to help with but would have thought that when this type of event happens at an airport there would be airport staff on hand to be at the bottom of the shutes to help people off and away form the exit as quickly as possible.
I guess, thinking about it logically as well, it can't be assumed that an emergency landing will always be 'conveniently' at an airport. So the priority will be to have crew at the top of the chute, rather than the bottom.