Virgin flight turns back after captain is told first officer did not complete training

The pilot roster error caused the Virgin flight to return to Heathrow.

The first officer on the New York-bound Virgin Atlantic plane did not pass his final flying test.

When the two pilots on board became aware of thetering error, the plane was nearly 40 minutes into its journey.

After it took off, the flight touched down more than one-and-a-half hours later.

The plane was replaced after it landed in London.

The airline says safety was not compromised.

You can’t make this stuff up!! Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330-300, performing flight VS3 to New York was forced to turn back to Heathrow after captain was told first officer had not completed his training pic.twitter.com/xQpfx2UTp9

— Tapiwa Munjoma (@TapiwaMunjoma) May 5, 2022

A Virgin Atlantic spokeswoman said that the flight from London to New York-JFK returned due to a rostering error.

The qualified first officer, who was flying alongside an experienced captain, was replaced with a new pilot to ensure full compliance with Virgin Atlantic's training protocols, which exceed industry standards.

The crew change caused our customers to arrive two hours and 40 minutes later than scheduled.