Virgin passenger jet forced to emergency land due to 'technical fault' between Heathrow and New York
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Passengers on a Virgin Atlantic flight were left stranded in Canadian airport overnight after the plane carrying them was forced to make an emergency landing.
250 passengers and crew members are understood to have spent the night at Gander Airport in Newfoundland.
Flight VS25 left London Heathrow airport to travel to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport when a "technical fault" occurred, the Mail Online has reported.
The flight landed in Gander Airport and a replacement aircraft was sent to transport everyone to their final destination.
A spokesman for Virgin Atlantic told MailOnline: "Virgin Atlantic can confirm that the VS25 departing London Heathrow on August 17 for New York JFK diverted to Gander due to a technical fault.
"All passengers and crew remained at Gander overnight on August 17 and a replacement aircraft will take them to their destination today.
"The safety and welfare of passengers and crew is Virgin Atlantic's top priority. The airline would like to thank passengers for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
"We have engineers en route to the aircraft to investigate the nature of the issue."
The airline also issued an apology on their Twitter account after being unable to secure hotel rooms near to the airport. "Unfortunately, hotels in the local area are full - and despite our best efforts we've been unable to get any for customers or staff. Apologies for this."
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments