Cracked windscreen forces Virgin Atlantic flight to turn back to London

RT
Mon, 28 Sep 2015 14:29 UTC

© Louis Nastro / Reuters

A Virgin Atlantic aircraft heading for Washington DC has been forced to loop back to London after its windscreen cracked following takeoff.

The Airbus A340 was flying over St George's Channel when it was forced to make an emergency mid-air turn on Monday morning.

According to AirLive.net, the plane landed at Heathrow Airport at 12:24 p.m.

Virgin Atlantic flight #VS21 from London to Washington is returning to London http://t.co/Dban6FEIHC pic.twitter.com/guQV91kju1— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) September 28, 2015

There were no reports of any injuries.

The long-range aircraft, which reportedly seats 375 passengers, is a wide-bodied commercial passenger jet produced by Airbus.

UPDATE Virgin Atlantic #VS21 is entering holding pattern. Live: http://t.co/lhUGrbMAVT pic.twitter.com/0lNNeU7nYT — AirLive.net (@airlivenet) September 28, 2015

UPDATE Virgin Atlantic #VS21 is on the ground at LHR after crack in the windscreen http://t.co/lhUGrbMAVT pic.twitter.com/EW1YBEYLrF — AirLive.net (@airlivenet) September 28, 2015

This isn't the first time a Virgin Atlantic aircraft has caused concern this month.

Last week, a London-bound jet taxiing for take off from New York was bused back to the terminal after getting its wing stuck in a fence.

None of the 276 passengers on the aircraft on that occasion were injured.