Tom Daley posted photos of fuel being dumped mid-air to his Instagram account. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/china/article/1557148/shanghai-london-flight-forced-make-emergency-landing-russia China
Flight from Shanghai to London forced to make emergency landing in Russia
Virgin said safety was its top priority. Photo: AFP
A plane from Shanghai to London was forced to make an emergency landing in Russia on Monday after a technical issue was detected.
The Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-600, carrying 286 passengers and 15 crew, dumped fuel mid-air before making an emergency landing in the Siberian city of Irkutsk.
The airline said the plane was diverted “as a precautionary measure due to a technical issue detected inflight” and the fuel dump was standard procedure.
Virgin added that safety was its top priority.
British Olympic diver Tom Daley, 20, was a passenger on the jet. The Olympic bronze medallist was flying back to London a day after competing in Shanghai at the Fina Diving World Cup, in which he came fourth in the 10m platform event.
“Just had to make an emergency landing in Irkutsk, Russia on the way back from Shanghai,” Daley said in a post on photo-sharing website Instagram.
“Here’s the pic of the fuel dump before landing,” he added, with an image of a wing of the Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-600 and fluid billowing out from under it.