Virgin flight to Bali has to be turned back because passengers are concerned that the plane cannot land safely: ‘Very scary’
- Virgin flight to Bali forced to turn around
- Aircraft experienced problems with the hydraulics
- The plane circled for two hours before landing
Passengers on a flight to Bali were forced to circle in the air for hours after the plane experienced technical problems, before being forced to return to Adelaide.
Travelers eager to start their holiday were left in the dark on Tuesday evening during flight VA113 from Virgin Australia to Denpasar.
At 6:50 p.m., just an hour into the five-hour journey, passengers were told the plane was having problems with its hydraulics.
The plane circled for another two hours before finally turning around and landing at Adelaide Airport just after 10:55 p.m.
Customers admitted they feared it wouldn’t be safe enough to land.
“We were all worried if it would be safe to land…it was really scary,” said one passenger 7NEWS.
Dozens of passengers were left in the dark on Tuesday evening during flight VA113 from Virgin Australia to Denpasar. The plane circled for two hours before returning to Adelaide Airport
At 6:50 p.m., just an hour into the five-hour journey, passengers were told the plane was having problems with its hydraulics (photo: a Virgin Airlines plane
Travelers were told that another plane would be organized to take them to the popular holiday destination – but some have ruined their holiday.
Virgin Airlines said all affected customers were being moved to the next available flights, with the majority departing within 24 hours.
However, couple Michelle and Ricky from Adelaide were not so lucky that the airline was unable to put them on a flight for the King’s birthday long weekend.
The couple had to give up on their dreams of a holiday abroad, their first in 20 years, and instead opted for a road trip to Melbourne.
“At what point do you feel like you should just give up and this holiday is off?” said Michelle.
Ricky said that because of the long weekend, everything was “triple the price.”
Virgin Airlines said all affected customers were being moved to the next available flights, with the majority departing within 24 hours
“So we decided to load up the car and drive to Melbourne, watch the footy and catch up with some people there,” he said.
Virgin Airlines has apologized for the inconvenience and said customer safety is the airlines top priority.
The flight crew has decided to return the aircraft to Adelaide due to a technical problem. This happened shortly after takeoff,” said a spokesman.
“The plane had to circle before landing to burn off fuel.”
Virgin Australia is offering affected passengers travel credits or full refunds.
