A British airline flight was forced to turn back after one of the two pilots flying the plane was found to have failed to complete the airline’s internal flying test.
Forty minutes after the Virgin Atlantic flight took off from London’s Heathrow airport for New York’s JFK airport, the flight made a U-turn due to a “rostering error”, according to a CNN report.
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The first officer reportedly had failed to complete the airline’s “internal final assessment flight”.
The pilot was, however, qualified as per UK flight regulations and has been with the company since 2017.
The accompanying pilot was billed by Virgin Atlantic as “highly experienced” with a 17-year history with the airline.
Both pilots were “fully licenced and qualified” to fly, the company said, adding that there was no breach in aviation or safety rules.
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A UK Civil Aviation Authority in a statement corroborated the airline’s claim that “both pilots were suitably licensed and qualified to operate the flight”.
The flight landed in New York two hours and 40 minutes later than scheduled after the first officer was replaced.
