SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A Virgin Atlantic flight carrying holiday travelers from London to San Francisco was forced to land in Newfoundland Tuesday after encountering a “technical issue,” according to an airline spokeswoman.
The flight — a Boeing 787 Dreamliner — left London at 11:06 a.m. local time and was scheduled to arrive in San Francisco at 1:50 p.m.
But over the Atlantic the pilot radio that Flight 19 had run into a technical issue and needed to make a “priority landing” as a precaution.
A passenger, Rin Johnson, tweeted that the flight had suffered an engine failure.
“Our captain made a v. safe choice, no doubt, but being stuck in the north for a night over a holiday… not good,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, passenger Tanveer Mann called it “Absolutely terrifying.”
Lisette Kwong, a spokesperson with Virgin Atlantic, issued an apology to the passengers and said another plane was being dispatched to pick up the stranded passengers.
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Why is there a picture of an Airbus 340 (with 4 engines) rather than a 787 with only two? A 4 engine plane likely wouldn’t have had to land early if one engine failed.