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Virgin Atlantic flight returns to Heathrow to replace First Officer who did not complete a required assessment
LONDON, the UK — A Virgin Atlantic flight had to return to Heathrow International after 40 minutes from departure when it was realized that the first officer did not complete a regular flight assessment test. (www.airlinerwatch.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
internal politics is all this is. If the guy could fly the jet and was licensed to do so then honestly, I don't see the problem as far as the FAA goes. This was an internal a-fair with the airline itself.
the whole thing was driven by liability concerns; if any thing went sideways, including spilling coffee on the quadrant, the insurance alone would be up for grabs, and everyone would feast on the poor FO - who could be a gifted aviator in fact. FUBAR?
Totally unnecessary. Flying at that level is like riding a bike, you're not going to forget after a few months of not flying or being evaluated.
Did they have to dump fuel before landing and then refuel it before takeoff?
Did they have to dump fuel before landing and then refuel it before takeoff?
I’m guessing you’re unfamiliar with FAA Part 121 ops judging by the comment. A return to base decision would have been made by Flt Ops in co-ordination with the Captain once all pertinent info was disseminated. The cost of fuel is nothing compared to fines incurred for taking a commercial airliner into Foreign International/Domestic Airspace with a perceived or known legal operational issue. Kudos to Virgin!
Comments are spot on. However, Virgin, being a British airline comes under the auspices of EASA/UK CAA, not FAR Part 131 which governs US air carriers. They are a foreign carrier and operate in/out of the US as Part 129, as someone above has already stated….
Seems like someone in the training department probably missed their evening teatime trying to explain to the chief pilot how that happened.