Travel / Gatwick London Airport Closed After Smoke Fills Plane's Cockpit Virgin Atlantic plane was Orlando-bound By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff Posted Apr 16, 2012 8:12 AM CDT Copied A Virgin Atlantic airplane, left, taxis past others at London's Gatwick Airport, England, Tuesday, May 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Sang Tan) All flights have been suspended at London's Gatwick Airport today, after a Virgin Atlantic flight was forced to return to the airport and make an emergency landing. Smoke had been detected in the cockpit of the Virgin A330, which was headed for Orlando, the Herald Sun reports. Passengers, some of whom suffered from smoke inhalation, were evacuated on the runway after a safe landing. The AP calls it a "technical issue," and notes that the plane landed nearly two hours after taking off. ITV has video of the plane on the runway. (More Gatwick stories.) Report an error