Virgin jet forced to make high-speed landing

[Greg McDonald]

From News.com.au:

A VIRGIN Blue jet with 55 passengers on board was forced to make a high-speed landing at Melbourne airport in what air safety investigators are treating as a serious incident.

The scare follows a host of safety issues with Australian planes that began three weeks ago when an explosion on a Qantas 747 blew a hole in the fuselage.

The 78-seat Virgin Blue Embraer jet from Sydney was close to landing at 8.50pm on Sunday when the pilot experienced problems extending the flaps and the slats.

Emergency services were immediately put on standby as the Brazilian-built plane approached, The Australian reports.

The flaps, at the rear of the wing, and the slats, on the front, deploy to increase the wing's surface area and slow the plane when landing.

A Virgin Blue spokesman said Sunday's problems involved a sensor controlling the slats.

He said the pilot followed set guidelines with the flaps only partially extended and the slats not extended at all.

"As a matter of practice, the flight crew notified air traffic control that alternate procedures were being adopted for landing," he said.

"Then air traffic control, in turn, as a safety precaution put emergency services at the airport on standby."