Flights suspended at Gatwick Airport after plane makes emergency landing

Supposedly just a technical issue.

Will keep you posted.

All passengers have been evacuated

Reports of seeing smoke in the cabin.

Nothing too exciting.

Probably nothing serious, although worth keeping an eye on.

Indeed

Nothing to worry about. All passengers are safe. There were reports of smoke in the cabin.

[link to www.bbc.co.uk]

Lots of reports coming in on twitter, all consistent with smoke entering the flight deck

First video for those interested:

[link to www.itv.com]

Picture from the scene

[link to twitter.com (secure)]

A333 G-VSXY

No official reports as of yet.

[link to www.virgin-atlantic.com]

A statement from Virgin Atlantic confirmed the flight had returned to the airport and been evacuated.

It said: "Due to a technical problem on board the aircraft, the captain decided as a precautionary measure to immediately evacuate the aircraft.

"Our teams at Gatwick are now looking after our passengers and assisting with their immediate requirements."

[link to www.bbc.co.uk]

why would they suspend ALL flights though??

Because that plane will be sat on the runway for probably hours now, while tests are completed.

At a guess :)

An hour out and lord only knows how this would have ended. Worse still, mid way over the Atlantic. Not sure if the A330 has fire suppression in the hold but there's some VERY lucky passengers right now.

The aircraft would have also been fully ladened in weight (210 metric tonnes) and such a descent back to LGW would have put operational stress on the aircraft which is reaching limitations.
They most likely held the aircraft on the ground for pre-tug inspections in the prevention that moving the aircraft wouldn't cause any further damage.
Gatwick has 2 operational runways but the A330 landed on the active runway as the secondary serves as a taxiway.

Exactly, they're so lucky!