Virgin Atlantic A330 Manchester-Bridgetown Declares Emergency

In the last few minutes, a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330 operating a flight between Manchester and Bridgetown has declared an emergency.

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G-VKSS is the Airbus A330-300 involved in this emergency.

Updates: Virgin Atlantic A330 Manchester-Bridgetown Declares Emergency…

This is a developing story.

UPDATE #1 @ 1324 UK time – Virgin Atlantic flight VS77 from Manchester to Bridgetown is making it’s u-turn back to the UK.

UPDATE #2 @ 1325 UK time – G-VKSS, the Airbus A330-300 operating this flight, is a 13.0 year old airframe that was delivered to the carrier back in February 2011.

Of the A330-300 variant, the UK carrier has 10 of them in the fleet, of which nine are in active service and one is currently parked, holding an average fleet age of 12.2 years, as per data from Planespotters.net.

UPDATE #3 @ 1327 UK time – VS77 has started it’s descent back into Manchester following the emergency 7700 squawk and broadcast call. It is unclear what the cause of the emergency is at this time.

UPDATE #4 @ 1332 UK time – Virgin Atlantic flight VS77 is descending through FL160 as the Bridgetown-bound flight gets ready for it’s arrival onto the 05s at MAN.

UPDATE #5 @ 1336 UK time – Unconfirmed reports coming through that there is smoke in the cockpit onboard the VS A330.

UPDATE #6 @ 1338 UK time – VS77 is on a long extended base leg for the 05s into MAN. Landing imminent in the next few minutes.

UPDATE #7 @ 1343 UK time – Virgin Atlantic flight VS77, originally bound for Bridgetown, is now on finals for the 05s at Manchester Airport.

UPDATE #8 @ 1349 UK time – TOUCHDOWN! VS77 has appeared to have touched down safely back into MAN following it’s emergency call in the climb out to the Caribbean.

As soon as we know the official cause of the emergency, then we will update you accordingly.

UPDATE #9 @ 1352 UK time – VS77 was met by fire crews on arrival to Runway 05R.

UPDATE #9 @ 1356 UK time – @airlinerslive showing the view from Manchester Airport following the Virgin Atlantic A330 emergency. Go check out their channel!

UPDATE #10 @ 1400 UK time – VS77 now taxing back to stand now checks by fire crews being completed.

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