Hot toilet pump forces jet's emergency landing

updated 5:33 a.m. ET Nov. 14, 2008

WILMINGTON, N.C. - An airport official says a Virgin Atlantic jet carrying nearly 350 people has made an emergency landing after crew members felt heat coming from the plane's floor.

But Airport Director Jon Rosborough told the Star-News of Wilmington that it turned out to be coming from an overheated toilet pump, not a fire. Officials said the 331 passengers and 18 crew members on the Miami-to-London flight were taken to hotels early Friday morning.

The Airbus jet was diverted to Wilmington International Airport in North Carolina late Thursday night after crew members thought the heat may have been coming from the cargo hold. Rosborough says inspectors found no evidence of a fire.

Officials say that no one was injured, and that the plane landed without incident.

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