- Virgin Atlantic passengers spent eight hours on a flight that returned to the UK.
- The flight turned around about 330 miles off the coast of Canada.
- A Manchester Airport spokesperson said the Airbus A350 may have had a problem with its hydraulics.
A Virgin Atlantic flight had almost reached North America before it turned back to the UK in an eight-hour ordeal for passengers.
Flight 3 was heading from London Heathrow Airport to New York’s JFK Airport on Thursday.
Nearly four hours after departing, it was about 330 miles off the Canadian coast when it U-turned over the Atlantic, per data from Flightradar24. It then squawked 7700, an emergency signal.
The Airbus A350 landed in Manchester, in northern England, about eight hours after taking off from London.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said in a statement that the flight returned “as a precautionary measure,” citing a “technical issue.”
Images shared on social media showed the A350 landing at Manchester with its landing-gear doors open — a sign of a problem with the plane's hydraulics.
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport told Business Insider they understood that the aircraft had a hydraulics issue.
They added that the flight was met by the airport fire service, which was protocol for a technical issue and "very much precautionary in this instance."
#BREAKING: Watch as Virgin Atlantic #VS3 from London Heathrow to New York, JFK lands at Manchester Airport with landing gear doors deployed due to a hydraulic failure. The Airbus A350-1000 (G-VPOP) had earlier squawked emergency code 7700. Emergency vehicles on standby. #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/SScipRjVlR
— Antony Ochieng,KE✈️ (@Turbinetraveler) March 6, 2025
Flights turning back over such long distances can be highly irritating for passengers and costly for airlines — with knock-on effects on flight schedules.
However, it's typically easier for airlines to reroute passengers and repair planes at a hub airport. Manchester is Virgin Atlantic's secondary hub, after Heathrow.
BI understands that Flight 3 requested a priority landing at Heathrow, but that did not happen for unknown reasons.
Passengers were given overnight accommodation in Manchester and scheduled on alternative flights on Friday.
"The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority and our teams are working hard to ensure our customers can continue on their journey as soon as possible," the Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said.
"We sincerely apologize for the delay and any inconvenience caused."