Saturday 16 August 2014

UK airport closed after aircraft landing incident

Doncaster's Robin Hood Airport is closed after an aircraft had a
problem with its undercarriage while landing.

The LinksAir plane, which had two crew members and one passenger on
board, was flying to the airport in South Yorkshire from Belfast City
Airport.

The passenger was taken to hospital for checks after the incident at
19:30 BST, the airport said.

It added that the Jetstream 31 aircraft remained near the runway and
could not be moved until investigators arrived.

It said the runway might remain closed until Saturday lunchtime.

Steve Gill, the airport managing director, told the Doncaster Free
Press: "Our apologies go to any passengers expecting to fly into or
out of Doncaster Sheffield Airport tonight. Our team will work to
ensure the airport reopens as soon as possible."

Bobby Fett, 39, from Newcastle upon Tyne, was at the airport on board
a plane due to depart for Romania at the time of the Belfast flight's
arrival.

He and fellow passengers were told by the pilot there was a "problem
on the runway".
"The crash happened as I was sat on the plane about to depart," he said.

"I was sat at the rear on my aircraft and was informed by the pilot
that there was a problem on the runway.

"When I looked out I saw what looked to be a small aircraft with its
right wing down on the floor. It was obvious it had an undercarriage
problem by the way it was sat."

Four inbound scheduled flights and three outbound services were
affected on Friday evening, the airport said.

A further three outbound flights are expected to be diverted on
Saturday morning.

At 22:00, there were about 300 people in the airport terminal awaiting
information, the airport added.

All passengers are advised to contact their airlines.

No comments:

Post a Comment