Virgin Atlantic flight to New York JFK returns to London Heathrow after crew training mishap

On 2 May, a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330-300 (registered G-VWAG) departed London Heathrow, United Kingdom for flight VS3 to New York JFK, United States, and was flying above Ireland when it was forced to return to LHR. 

During the flight, the captain learned that the first officer didn’t fully complete his training to undertake the flight. As a matter of fact, he needed one more flight with a training captain to get his full qualification.

Passengers and crew members were forced to wait for a replacement co-pilot to arrive, flight VS3 landed at JFK with a delay of nearly three hours.

Virgin Atlantic admitted the rostering error, but added that the qualified co-pilot was replaced with a new pilot to ensure full compliance with the airline’s training protocols.

The airline apologised for the inconvenience caused to its passengers who arrived two hours and 40 minutes later than scheduled.

UK’s Civil Aviation Authority was informed about the incident and confirmed that both pilots were suitably licenced and qualified to undertake the flight.