The pilot of a Virgin Atlantic flight was compelled to turn around because he lacked designated trainer certification.

After it was discovered that one of the pilots had not finished all of their company training, a Virgin Atlantic flight was forced to turn around.

Flight VS3, which had taken off from Heathrow on Monday and was en route to New York, was instructed to return roughly half an hour after taking off.

The Airbus A330 landed about an hour later at the London airport, where the co-pilot was changed.

Even though the officer was fully certified and qualified to operate the aircraft, they had not performed the airline's mandatory "final evaluation flight."

As a result, the captain was not identified as a trainer, and the pilot pairing violated "internal training rules," but not UK aviation and safety regulations.

The airline informed the Civil Aviation Authority of the event, which found that "both pilots were appropriately licensed and qualified to execute the flight."

The captain has been described as "very experienced," having "many thousands of hours of flight time throughout 17 years at Virgin Atlantic," while his co-pilot has been with the company since 2017.

The incident was blamed on a "rostering error" by Virgin Atlantic, which said the officer was replaced to ensure "full compliance" with its protocols. Virgin Atlantic is largely owned by billionaire Richard Branson.

The flight was able to resume when the alteration was made, and it eventually landed at JFK airport in New York two hours and 40 minutes later than expected.

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic's internal operations have been reviewed and improved to avoid a repeat of the occurrence.

The airline expressed regret for the inconvenience it had caused its passengers.