Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Mark McGrath
What: Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330-300 from London to Orlando,FL
Where: London
When: Apr 16th 2012
Who: 299 passengers and 13 crew
Why: The flight had taken off from Gatwick when the crew reported an indication of a cargo fire. Pilots returned to the airport, and made a safe landing on flat tires. (Flat tires can result from a heavy or fast landing.)
Passengers were evacuated by slide from the plane directly on the runway, at which time some scrapes and bruises occurred.
No heat or fire was found in the plane. It is not uncommon for de-icing fluid burning off an engine may set off an alarm.
Frontier Airlines flight F9-1764 made an emergency landing in Phoenix, Arizona, on May 27th.
The Airbus A320-200 plane heading from San Diego, California, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, was diverted after a number of passengers reported feeling unwell due to an unidentified odor on-board.
The plane landed safely. Seventeen passengers were examined by the medical teams at the airport while one passenger was taken to a hospital.
British Airways flight BA-294 had to return and make an emergency landing in Chicago, Illinois, on September 12th.
The Boeing 747-400 plane took off for Heathrow Airport, England, but had to turn back after the crew failed to retract the nose gear.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Royal Flight Airlines flight RL-305 had to return and make an emergency landing at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Russia, on October 8th.
The Boeing 767-300 plane took off for Guiyang, China, but had to turn back due to an issue with the flaps.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Jeju Air flight 7C-101 returned and made a safe landing at Gimpo International Airport, Gimpo, Seoul, South Korea, on December 24.
The Boeing 727-800, flying from Gimpo, to Jeju, South Korea, had to return in emergency due to loss of cabin pressure.
The plane landed safely.
All the passengers onboard remained safe.
KLM flight KL-1801 returned and made a safe emergency landing at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam, Netherlands, on May 22nd.
The Boeing 736-800, en-route to Munich, Germany, had to return shortly after the crew reported a cabin pressurisation problem.
The plane landed safely. All people onboard remained unharmed.
The passengers were accommodated in a replacement plane.
