Virgin Atlantic A330 precautionary evacuation at LGW
 

The TWR just reported the main runway 08R/26L is closed.

Flight Radar 24 showed the following 40 minutes ago "Squawk 7700 (general emergency). G-VSXY (Virgin Atlantic A333)" which looked like it was heading back to LGW

EDIT: Add a little more info

Virgin Atlantic Flight VS27, Callsign VIR27X, make a rapid return to Gatwick.

The aircraft had passed south of the Isle of Wight after departing Gatwick for Orlando, Florida when she issued a general emergency 7700 squawk.

Link Plane Finder ? Flight Radar | Aircraft Tracker | Live Flight Tracking

The ATIS refers to an "incident with undetermined delays" (+ Fire Category 0)...looks like an aircraft is blocking the runway,

Nothing has gone out of LGW or in for about 30 mins since the VS A330 arrived back-not quite sure what is happening !

Evacuated apparently, following in-flight turn-back.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...dun/G-VSXY.jpg

... smoke reported in the cockpit apparently

An helicopter operating on behalf of BBC News & seeking clearance to fly over the airfield just got its request denied by LGW Director...not much happening on other frequencies apart from flights diverting to LTN, BOH, STN & LHR

Virgin LGW emergency
 

A340-300 returned and blocking runway. Pax out on slides. No movements currently.

A340-300? Looks a lot like an A330 to me...

also hearing that it was in fact a fire (or smoke) in the rear hold and the extinguishers deployed. I understand they are just going to offload the hold and take a look

Pax were evacuated using slides only! No steps involved

Watching from LGW NT gate the only movements are ambulances away from the aircraft. Hopefully no major injuries evacuating. Never seen it so quiet at LGW.

Ps well done to BA Captain for talking to pax on our flight.

Question on Slides
 

Just a general question on slides

Once a slide is deployed what do you have to do in order to use steps instead ?

Like how much time is needed to make the change assuming the steps are at hand ?

Slides are designed to be used as rafts in the event of a ditching, therefore they are designed to disconnect easily from the aircraft, usually by pulling a release and then cutting the mooring line with the attached knife.

Naive question from SLF...could the reserve runway not be used to keep the airport open? Or is the airport closed due to the emergency services being tied up with this incident? Or does proximity come into it?

Yes well done to the BA Captain! I'm sure his PA was reassuring and informative. :ugh:

It might be nice to say well done to the Virgin guys and girls, up front and in the cabin, who just did something which will only happen once in their careers. Something we all train for and hope will never happen.

Emergency runway is too close to the main runway to be used in this case. There will be people everywhere on the ground, lots of debris ( taken off by pax I.e bags, papers, rubbish ) all over the place, so until the runway is clear and clean, the emergency one would not be used.




And well done to the virgin crew who were on the flight, they got everyone off quickly and effiiciently, and their day has only just begun. They will now be caught up in hours of debriefs, paperwork etc , reliving this 90 seconds of trauma for hours to come.