Passenger illness prompts emergency landing of UK-India flight in Türkiye

A Virgin Atlantic Airways flight traveling from London to Mumbai made an emergency landing in southeastern Türkiye Wednesday after a passenger experienced a medical emergency onboard.

Flight VIR-358, an Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, touched down at Diyarbakir Airport at 6:35 p.m. local time, according to Turkish officials.

After the landing, which witnesses described as “hard,” all 262 passengers and 16 crew members were evacuated from the aircraft and moved to a customs-controlled area of the airport.

Emergency medical teams provided immediate care to the ill passenger, who was subsequently hospitalized. No details about the passenger’s condition have been released.

The unexpected diversion has prompted Virgin Atlantic to arrange an additional flight for the stranded passengers to continue their journey to India.

Technical teams from the airline are currently examining the aircraft on the tarmac. The nature of their inspection remains unclear, though it may be related to the reported hard landing.

Airport authorities assured travelers that the emergency landing has not disrupted other scheduled flights at Diyarbakir Airport, which continues to operate normally.