A Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-600, registration G-VWKD performing flight VS-25 from London Heathrow,EN (UK) to New York JFK,NY (USA) with 252 passengers and 15 crew, had depared Heathrow’s runway 09R and was enroute at FL360 about 170nm northnorthwest of Shannon (Ireland) about 60 minutes later when the crew declared PAN PAN PAN reporting a medical issue with one of the pilots following a laser strike after takeoff from Heathrow Airport, later adding that the laser strike had been about 6-7nm west of Heathrow Airport (editorial note: aircraft was climbing through 6000-7000 feet at that point). The crew turned around and returned to London for a safe landing on Heathrow’s runway 27L about 75 minutes after turning around.
The airline reported the first officer felt unwell following the laser strike, both flight crew decided to return to Heathrow rather than continue the Atlantic crossing.
The Aviation Herald
VS-25 gets hit by laser upon departure
