Virgin Atlantic flight experiences system failures leading to temporary grounding

During the flight, the aircraft descended from an altitude of approximately 37,000 feet to 28,000 feet before safely landing at London Heathrow Terminal 3 around fifty minutes behind schedule.

The incident was reported by a listener on frequency who informed The Aviation Herald that "the crew on HF radio reported the failure of their CPDLC and autopilot malfunctions." With assistance from another company aircraft within VHF radio range, communication with engineering revealed that "they had Auto Flight Autopilot off," among other issues.

Data from Flightradar24 indicates that after being grounded post-incident on December 16th, the aircraft resumed flights on December 20th with a return trip to Miami. Since then, it has continued normal operations with flights between London and destinations such as New York and Saint Lucia.

Failed autopilots are not typically considered emergencies but do increase pilot workload significantly. Without autopilot assistance, one pilot must focus entirely on flying while the other handles additional tasks like paperwork.

Aircraft non-compliant with Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums must notify Air Traffic Control and usually descend below RVSM airspace levels. According to SKYbrary: "State airworthiness authorities are responsible for verifying that an aircraft is technically capable of meeting and maintaining stringent altimetry system performance requirements."