Virgin Australia flight VA-938 made an emergency landing in Newcastle, Australia, on February 1st.
The Boeing 737-800 plane heading from Brisbane to Sydney, Australia, was diverted due to a cargo smoke indication.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Virgin Australia flight DJ-660 suffered engine issues near Canberra, Australia, on December 13th.
The plane flying from Sydney, Australia, was descending toward Canberra when the both engines temporarily rolled back one after the other.
The crew subsequently switched to manual ignition and continued for a safe landing.
Virgin Australia flight VA-465 made an emergency landing in Adelaide, Australia, on October 18th.
The Boeing 737-800 plane heading from Perth to Brisbane, Australia, was diverted after the crew noticed an electrical odor in the cabin.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Virgin Australia flight VA-474 had to return and make an emergency landing in Brisbane, Australia, on June 4th.
The Boeing 737-800 plane took off for Perth, Australia, but suffered a bird strike during departure.
The crew subsequently landed back safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Virgin Australia flight VA-745 made an emergency landing in Coolangatta, Australia, on June 1st.
The Boeing 737-800 plane flying from Melbourne, Australia, was on approach to Coolangatta when the crew reported smoke in the cockpit.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Virgin Australia flight VA-1536 suffered a lightning strike near Sydney, Australia, on April 2nd.
The incident happened shortly after the Boeing 737-800 plane departed for Hobart, Australia.
The plane returned to Sydney for a safe landing. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Virgin Australia flight VA-646 made a hard landing at Canberra Airport, Australia, on November 19th.
The incident happened after the plane flying from Sydney, Australia, encountered wind shear.
Authorities said the aircraft’s tail skid and the fuselage contacted the runway.
No injuries were reported.
Australia’s TSB is investigating.
Virgin Australia flight VA-319 made an emergency landing in Melbourne, Australia, on October 20th.
The Boeing 737-800 plane took off for Brisbane, Australia, but had to turn back after the crew suspected a bird strike.
The plane landed back safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Virgin Australia flight VA-546 made an emergency landing in Brisbane, Australia, on October 12th.
The Boeing 737-800 plane heading from Coolangatta to Sydney, Australia, was diverted after the crew noticed an engine issue.
The plane landed uneventfully. Everyone aboard remained safe.
Virgin Australia flight VA-233 encountered severe turbulence near Adelaide, Australia, on September 13th.
The Boeing 737-800 plane flying from Melbourne, Australia, was descending toward Adelaide when it was hit by turbulence that injured two flight attendants.
The plane landed safely. The injured flight attendants were taken to hospital.
Virgin Australia Airlines flight VA-101 had to return and make an emergency landing in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 19th.
The Boeing 737-800 plane took off for Melbourne, Australia, but had to return shortly afterwards due to a bird strike.
The plane landed back safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Virgin Australia flight VA-1188 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Williamtown, New South Wales, Australia, on February 21st.
The plane heading from Port Macquarie, to Sydney, Australia, was diverted after the crew noticed smoke in the cockpit.
The plane landed safely. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Virgin Australia flight VA-91 had to return and make an emergency landing in Auckland, New Zealand, on July 21st.
The Boeing 737-800 plane took off for Apia, Samoa, but had to return shortly afterwards due to a cabin pressurization problem.
The plane landed safely. No injuries were reported.
Virgin Australia flight VA-1351 had to return and make an emergency landing in Sydney, Australia, on May 19th.
The plane took off for Darwin, Australia, but had to return shortly afterwards after smell of smoke was detected in the cabin.
The plane landed uneventfully. No injuries were reported.
The airline arranged a replacement plane for the passengers.
Virgin Australia flight VA-1280 made an emergency landing in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, on February 23nd.
The Boeing 737-800, heading from Hamilton Island, to Sydney, Australia, was diverted after the crew noticed an unusual odor in the cabin.
The plane landed uneventfully. All 160 people aboard remained safe.
A Virgin Australia plane had to make an emergency landing at Brisbane International Airport in Queensland, Australia, on February 17.
The plane was heading from Sydney International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport, California, when the airline received a bomb threat and decided to divert it for an emergency landing.
The plane landed uneventfully. Everyone aboard remained unhurt.
The authorities later confirmed that the threat was a hoax.
Virgin Australia flight VA-8 returned and made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport, California, on the morning of July 29.
The Boeing 777, heading towards Brisbane, Australia, was turned around after the pilots noticed a crack in its windshield.
The passenger jet landed safely and there were no reported injuries.
After inspection, the crew “rectified the issue”, and allowed the plane to fly again.
Virgin Australia flight VA1179 had to make an emergency landing at Canberra Airport, Australia, at around 5:30 p.m. on January 16.
According to the airline spokesperson, “In line with standard operating procedures, the captain decided to divert to Canberra as a precautionary measure after a cockpit indication light illuminated.” The flight was en-route from Albury to Sydney at the time.
The plane landed uneventfully and all the passengers and crew members remained unhurt.
The engineers examined the plane and cleared it after some time for resuming the flight.
Embraer has issued a worldwide alert after heavy maintenance carried out by Virgin Australia on June 26-26 pointed out a fault in the engine-holding bolts of Embraer 190 aircrafts.
Out of 17 Embraer 190 aircraft present in the fleet, 9 had issues with the bolts which hold the aircraft’s engine in the engine pylon, attached to the wing.
The airline grounded all 9 aircrafts for repairs and informed the Brazilian manufacturing company of the issue. Embraer then issued an alert service bulletin to all the airlines operating Embraer 190 aircrafts. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority was also informed about the problem.
A statement released by Virgin Australia airlines said, “These aircraft have since undergone the necessary precautionary repairs and have since returned to service… At Virgin Australia, the safety of our aircraft is our highest priority and we have been in regular dialogue with Embraer regarding this alert.”
The Indonesian police have dropped all charges against the 28 year old Australian who allegedly tried to break into the cockpit of Virgin Australia Airlines flight en route from Brisbane to Bali.
After thorough investigation, the police officials learned that Matt Christopher Lockley was actually looking for the toilet after waking up from deep sleep. He mistook the cockpit door for the toilet door.
The special crime director of Bali police, Suryambodo Asmoro, said “The suspect we released because he has good intentions to go back to his country on his own, So he is going back alone, not accompanied or escorted.”
Lockley thanked the Indonesian authorities “I want to say thank you to the Indonesian police and authorities…They only followed procedures and they have provided me with a lot of care and support and I’m grateful for everything they’ve done.”
He denied the accusations made by the Virgin Australia officials about his being drunk. He said that he had only taken Panadol, Voltaren and Coca Cola before getting on the plane.
This post is an update of “Passenger Tries to Break Into the Cockpit; Virgin Australia Flight Landed in Emergency due to Hijack Scare”
A Virgin Australia Airlines flight en route from Brisbane to Bali, Indonesia, was forced to make emergency landing after the flight crew reported an attempted hijacking by a passenger.
The Boeing 737-800 was approximately 180 nautical miles away from Denpasar International Airport (about 30 minutes before the scheduled landing time), when a 27 year old Australian passenger, Matt Christopher Lockley, started banging at the cockpit door and tried to break in. The flight crew hand-cuffed him, took him to the cabin crew area and sent a mayday signal to the control towers in Makassar and Denpasar, indicating a possible hijacking attempt. The Bali airport authorities then prepared for an emergency landing protocol for the flight VA41, which was carrying 139 passengers and 6 crew members.
According to a Transport ministry official Herry Bakti, the emergency signal was received at about 2pm local time. The authorities from Virgin Australia confirm that the pilot had sent the standard signal code for ‘unlawful interference’, after which standard emergency response protocols were adopted.
The plane made an uneventful emergency landing and the Bali Police Chief, Inspector Benny Mokalu confirms that none of the passengers or crew members were harmed. The Indonesian military troops arrested Lockley, after the plane touched the ground.
Matt Christopher Lockley hails from Queensland, Australia and holds a driving license and a plumbing industry council card. The cabin crew reported that he looked ‘unstable’ and ‘paranoid’ during the flight. Police officials said that he claimed that he was hammering the cockpit door because he wanted to take some medicines from his luggage.
Heru Sudjatmiko, Virgin Australia’s Bali manager maintains that a drunk passenger tried to enter the cockpit which forced the emergency landing of the plane. It was not a hijacking attempt, it was a ‘miscommunication’. “I repeat, this is just a miscommunication. How the miscommunication occurred, I cannot answer because I wasn’t there. But it’s not true to say that the plane was hijacked…. I don’t know exactly what happened when the pilot communicated with the air traffic controller at Ngurah Rai,” he said.
Lockey is being investigated by the local police and it is not clear what charges will be made against him.
After suffering engine trouble, a Virgin flight for Brisbane returned to Emerald Airport and made an emergency landing.
No injuries were reported. Emergency services responded to the scene. Passengers were provided overnight accommodations.
In my experience, this does not happen often to Virgin.
A Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 scheduled from Melbourne to Maroochydore had a ground accident on the tarmac.
The plane collided with a Jetstar AirbusA320. None of the 175 passengers on the Virgin flight were injured but both planes sustained damage.
The Boeing’s left winglet was damaged.
The Virgin Australia plane was reversing.
The Jetstar sustained damage to the tail. It had just returned from Sydney, and was stationary during the collision.
An investigation is ongoing. Damages of about three million are estimated to each craft.
June 18, 2013
A Virgin Australia plane en route from Brisbane to Adelaide could not land due to foggy conditions, and diverted to Midura where they could not land due to foggy conditions, then made two aborted attempts to land (during foggy conditions) when they nailed the landing on the third try.
I expect all 85 passengers exited the plane as quickly as their little feet would carry them. (I know I would.) The airline said they would get the passengers from Midura to Adelaide but did not indicate if a plane, bus, or carrier pigeon was going to be employed.
On Feb 22, 2013, a Boeing 737-800 Virgin Australia flight was in the air for ten minutes when the crew detected an odor in the cockpit.
The pilot returned to Melbourne and made a safe landing at 9:09 a.m.
Passengers were provided alternative flights. There were 129 passengers aboard.
The incident is under investigation. The source of the odor is not yet known.
