PASSENGERS on a flight to Rome spent two hours in hold patterns over Sussex before returning to Gatwick Airport after a ‘fuel spill’.
Vueling flight VY6227 departed Gatwick at around 9.32pm on Sunday and was due to land in the Italian capital around 1am.
However, the Airbus A320 changed course just minutes into the flight and entered a holding pattern over East Sussex, passing by Burgess Hill, Lewes and Hailsham.
The aircraft later moved across the Channel off the coast of Bognor before returning to Gatwick about two hours after takeoff.
The trajectory of VY6227: Credit – Flightradar24.com
One Twitter user, Francesco Ricci, claimed the flight was overloaded with fuel and forced to return to the airport.
VY6227 flight update:
After 5 minutes of takeoff, the pilot realized that there was too much fuel in the plane for it to take off (because of the weight). Now they are back at Gatwick removing the unnecessary fuel.— Francesco Ricci (@Frances72965262) July 31, 2022
It is unclear what compensation, if any, has been granted to the passengers affected or what arrangements have been made to allow them to continue their journey to Rome.
Vueling has been contacted for comment.
https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/20593290.vueling-flight-forced-return-gatwick-fuel-mishap/?ref=rss Vueling flight forced to return to Gatwick after ‘fuel mishap’