VS043 safe emergency landing at LGW 29 Dec 14

i just heard about this.
firstly so glad it ended well and massive respect to all the crew.
but only one thing i dont understand, if the plane was departing then why would there have been a problem with the landing gear not deploying? if the landing gear is retracted after take off how did they come to realise there was an issue? woukdnt this have happened when the plane was coming in to land?

Pilots get a 3 green lights when gear's down and locked, lights out when gear's retracted, and red when the gear position disagrees with the levers position. Upon gear retraction the pilots would have had 1 red light and the rest out, thus they'd have been aware of the problem almost immediately after take off.

As the aircraft reached 32,000ft and continued out over the Irish sea I doubt this was an issue with gear retraction. It's more than likely to be a hydraulic system failure which was recognised after the gear had been retracted, and after deliberation with OPS they may have requested the aircraft to return to base.

The risk of the landing gear not deploying properly would of been highlighted to the flight deck, which would be confirmed on gear extension - as has happened in this situation. You can see the crew have manually 'dropped' the landing gear as the panels around the gear have not stowed (which was the cause of the sparks on landing).

Top merits for a great job done by all crew involved.

Ah yes, very true, gumshoe. In general (i.e. aside from the specific nature of this case), does accepting such a goodwill gesture preclude pax from claiming further compensation under EU261?

How does EU261/2004 apply in this case?

This surely is an 'exceptional circumstance' under the regulations and so compensation would not payable.

However, as I said earlier that does not preclude VS offering compensation itself - which it looks like it is doing.

I'm not an expert, but have researched the EU compensation rules extensively.
By VS own admission, the aircraft had a technical fault. Technical faults do not fall under "Extraordinary Circumstances", therefore, the passengers should be able to claim compensation.

All the flights that were delayed as a result of the VS plane blocking the runway, will not be entitled to compensation as the knock on effect of the landing does constitute an extraordinary circumstance.

Fantastic job yesterday by the crew.

I'm not an expert, but have researched the EU compensation rules extensively.
By VS own admission, the aircraft had a technical fault. Technical faults do not fall under "Extraordinary Circumstances", therefore, the passengers should be able to claim compensation.

But some technical faults are also extra ordinary circumstances and the EU recognises this.

See the EU list

#21 applies to yesterday

Any technical issues which cause the pilot to carry out an aircraft turnaround or diversion.

as does #25

Failure of necessary or required aircraft systems
(for example the cooling system, avionics system, flight control system, flaps, slats, rudders, thrust reverser, landing gear) either immediately prior to departure or in-flight (where those systems had been maintained in accordance with the required maintenance programme).

^ What tonty said.

It's nice of VS to offer the vouchers though, and as someone who has had a red voucher before, I can say that it was pretty easy to use (in my case anyway, perhaps because I love booking ahead) and we had a wonderful trip out of it

Someone has posted what happened onboard, viewable below. Cabin seems very calm considering the situation. Incredibly calm crew, top work!
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152484444725919&pnref=story

I sw that last night, amazingly good work form all the crew, al real credit to themselves and VS

It has not been appreciated just how much work they had on the flight deck.

#4 hydraulics failure did not just affect the landing gear.

Outer elevator inop. Speedbrakes inop. Autobrake off.

Some might criticise the long hop on landing but the above explains.

Flight crew have earned their holiday on Necker.

There are those on this site who have accused me of negativity against VS. I have had a number of really poor experiences with VS, and feel entitled to post negative reviews. But equally as someone who has spent a quarter of a century in the airline industry I would like to recognise the cabin crew on this service. This flight was 'not routine' for an extended period, and for most of that time the passengers would have recognised that something was up - well before they were told how serious the issue was. The cabin crew seem to have managed this superbly - the videos posted show calm passengers, and crew in control of the cabin situation. That is a real achievement and I take my hat off to them for maintaining passenger morale and discipline under testing circumstances. I hope VS recognise this.

Report from the Brighton Argus re the AAIB investigation

Their investigation revealed that a part was in the wrong place and this meant the plane’s landing gear could not be deployed.

It said part of the right wing landing gear had been “incorrectly installed” by ground crews and a piece of it had fallen off during the incident.

"incorrectly installed" = upside down.

[Darren Wheeler]

You can read the full AAIB report here:

https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.g ... _10-15.pdf

TL;DR.

Prior to the flight, the landing gear actuator had been replaced but due to a number of reasons, it was fitted incorrectly and when activated after takeoff, there was a hydraulic fluid leak and the landing gear could not be retracted correctly, knocking off the strike board.

28 recommendations identified by VS, with 3 being made to Boeing.

Here is my visualisation of the incident which I have updated following the AAIB report

http://thatdatavizguy.com/2015/10/14/virgin-atlantic-flight-vs43-landing-gear-problems-updated/

Here is my visualisation of the incident which I have updated following the AAIB report

http://thatdatavizguy.com/2015/10/14/virgin-atlantic-flight-vs43-landing-gear-problems-updated/

I didn't know what a tableau was until now, nor a "viz" (apart from THAT mag of course), anyway, that's very good, so have a like !

Here is my visualisation of the incident which I have updated following the AAIB report

http://thatdatavizguy.com/2015/10/14/virgin-atlantic-flight-vs43-landing-gear-problems-updated/

I didn't know what a tableau was until now, nor a "viz" (apart from THAT mag of course), anyway, that's very good, so have a like !

Many thanks Silver fox - I remember that 'viz' as well