Virgin Atlantic A333 near Boston on Jul 4th 2019, a charged seat cushion

Last Update: July 5, 2019 / 15:36:44 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Jul 4, 2019

Classification
Incident

Airline
Virgin Atlantic

Flight number
VS-138

Departure
New York JFK, United States

Destination
London Heathrow, United Kingdom

Aircraft Registration
G-VKSS

Aircraft Type
Airbus A330-300

ICAO Type Designator
A333

A Virgin Atlantic Airbus A330-300, registration G-VKSS performing flight VS-138 from New York JFK,NY (USA) to London Heathrow,EN (UK) with 210 passengers and 7 crew (?), was climbing through about FL280 out of New York, about 30nm west of Boston,MA (USA), when the crew stopped the climb and decided to divert to Boston reporting a fire in the cabin. While on approach to Boston descending below 10,000 feet the crew reported the fire was out, however, they still wanted to stop on the runway. The airport sent all other arrivales into holds advising them the emergency aircraft would stop on the runway and discussed with the crews about their options to divert. The aircraft landed safely on Boston's runway 15R about 18 minutes after stopping the climb and stopped on the runway. The crew advised emergency services the fire had been near the rear and right hand side of the aircraft and was confirmed out, the crew also requested a check of the brakes. The crew subsequently advised the seat in question was near door 2R. The crew shut the right hand engine (Trent 772) down to permit emergency services open door 2R. There were no injuries.

Boston police reported preliminary investigation suggests a battery pack or charger consistent with the appearance of a battery charger for a mobile phone caught fire while embedded between the seat cushions.

The FAA reported: "DIVERTED TO BOS DUE TO A SEAT CUSHION THAT WAS ON FIRE IN THE REAR OF THE AIRCRAFT" The aircraft carried 210 passengers, 5 cabin crew (all with unknown injuries) and 2 flight crew (no injuries). The damage and highest level of injury are unknown.

Passengers reported there was smell of smoke in the cabin, they were told there was a fire in the first class cabin. There were kept on board for about an hour after landing in the still smokey cabin while waiting for emergency services to board the aircraft.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Jul 4, 2019

Classification
Incident

Airline
Virgin Atlantic

Flight number
VS-138

Departure
New York JFK, United States

Destination
London Heathrow, United Kingdom

Aircraft Registration
G-VKSS

Aircraft Type
Airbus A330-300

ICAO Type Designator
A333

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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