[rfreedom4u]

Would have mad sense to me if they had continued on to Las Vegas and made the landing there. It would have burned off fuel and got the passengers where they wanted to go.

[Crazieman]

Stop talking sense.

[grobdriver]

If the problem involved any part of the gear hanging out in the breeze they likely would not have even made it across the pond due to excess drag and increased fuel consumption.

If any part of the landing gear doors were involved they'd not be able to exceed safe gear extension speed either (else the airstream would rip off the doors).

They did the right thing.

[moose07]

No doubt Rules and Common sense diverged at this point.

[jttpwalsh]

Being a British carrier, I believe the decision to return was made due to location (maintenance and repair facilities).
Also, they probably wanted to avoid those pesky American lawyers. Thanks.

[Kirkwood]

If VA has no repair facility contracted in Vegas, it makes no sense to fly there. Also if the issue caused a fault in getting the gear fully up, then they can’t make the trip. I recall a flight from the US to the UK that was made with an engine out and they got a ton of bad publicity. I believe it was British Airways back in the 70s.