Passengers furious as pilot forced to turn back because he wasn't qualified to fly

The flight had been in the air fir just 40 minutes when they were forced to turn around. Photo / Flightradar 24

A Virgin flight from London to New York had to turn back after the co-pilot revealed he was still a trainee.

It was just 40 minutes into its transatlantic flight when the first officer radioed to tell his stunned captain that he hadn't completed his last flying test.

The New York-bound passengers were left furious when the plane turned around to land and they were stuck on the tarmac for almost three hours as airline staff tried to find an experienced replacement.

Virgin Atlantic apologised for Monday's blunder, which it said had been caused by a roster mistake.

A source told The Sun: "You could have cut the tension in the cockpit with a knife.

"The plane got as far as Ireland and then they found out the first officer was still in training.

"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.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers who arrived two hours, 40 minutes later than scheduled as a result of the crew change."

A UK Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson said it was made aware of the incident by the airline and confirmed "both pilots were suitably licensed and qualified to undertake the flight".

The captain has been described as "highly experienced" with "many thousands of hours of flight time during 17 years at Virgin Atlantic", while his co-pilot was said to have joined the airline in 2017.

Virgin Atlantic, which is largely owned by billionaire Richard Branson, blamed the incident on a "rostering error".