A London airport was closed while a fire was being put out on a landed plane.
April 17, 2012- A Virgin Atlantic flight had to make an emergency landing Monday at Gatwick Airport in London. Fifteen people on board the plane were injured during the landing and emergency exit via chutes. The landing caused the airport in London to be temporarily closed. The flight to Orlando from London returned some two hours after liftoff because of what pilots on board said was a technical problem.
A fire was reported in the hold of the plane by the captain. A statement by Virgin Atlantic said, “The flight’s captain decided as a cautionary measure that it was necessary to evacuate the plane as soon as possible.”
Once the plane landed, all passengers and crew were immediately taken off the plane. The landing caused Gatwick officials to close the airport, but shortly after the plane was emptied, flights at the airport resumed.
Earlier in the day, a spokesperson from the airport said the airport had to be closed because the aircraft was still on the runway and passengers were still disembarking.
The Virgin Atlantic flight number 27 to Orlando from Gatwick had 229 passengers and 13 crew on board, according to data released by the airline. The aircraft was an Airbus A330-300 and took off originally at 5:48 am and landed in Gatwick just two hours later.
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