On May 30, Virgin Atlantic flight VS165 from London Heathrow (LHR) to Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ) experienced an engine stall over the Atlantic Ocean. It was forced to turn around and make an emergency landing at Shannon airport, Ireland (SNN), a key emergency diversion hub for transatlantic journeys. The Airbus 330-900 with 246 passengers and 13 crew, which departed at 16.12 BST, was already reported to be over three hours into its scheduled 10 hour journey.
Precautionary measure
Following the technical issue, the pilots shut down the right hand engine as a precautionary measure and reduced the aircraft’s altitude from 34,000 feet to 20,000 feet. Air traffic controllers then guided the aircraft to safely land at SNN at 21.32 IST with the assistance of emergency vehicles as standard protocol which included fire, ambulance and rescue services.
Nik Middleton, a passenger on board, posted about her experience on aviation website avherald.com:
We were about three hours into the flight when there were two loud bangs, followed by smoke/haze in the cabin and the crew being recalled. The long turn back over the Atlantic was frightening, especially knowing how far we were from Shannon. That said, the Virgin crew were excellent…When we finally came to a stop at Shannon, the cabin erupted into the loudest applause I have ever heard…Only later did we learn the scale of the response waiting for us at Shannon. It took around two hours from the emergency call to reach the airport, and during that time lifeboats, ambulances, airport fire crews, local fire services and volunteers were all preparing for the possibility that we might not make the runway…From the cabin we saw the emergency vehicles. Only later did we understand how many complete strangers had been trying to help. To the crew, the emergency services and the people of Shannon: I am deeply grateful.
Passengers disembarked the aircraft safely and eventually returned to LHR on a replacement aircraft. A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson confirmed passengers were offered accommodation at Heathrow with options to rebook their flight or to receive a refund. Engineers are investigating the reason the engine failed mid-flight.
Incidents such as this are rare, but do occur. In 2018, the crew on a UPS 767 engine reported they needed to shut down the right-hand engine due to low oil pressure and also diverted to SNN for an emergency landing.
A more unusual U-turn was in 2022, when a Virgin Atlantic flight from LHH to New York (JFK) was forced to return around half an hour after take off, when it was found that one one of the pilots had not completed all of their essential company training.
Has your flight ever been diverted or was your journey disrupted by technical issues? Share your experiences in the comments below…
