21/08/2002

Belfast-bound plane forced to make emergency landing

A British Airways passenger plane bound for Belfast was forced to make an emergency landing at a Scottish airport last night.

The plane, which was flying from Glasgow International to Belfast City Airport, was forced to land at Prestwick airport in Ayrshire just after 6pm.

Police and fire service crew were put on alert, but the plane landed safely and the 39 passengers and four crew members were escorted from the plane and taken to the terminal building.

The passengers were then transferred to another plane and arrived in Belfast just before 10pm.

A spokesman for the airport stated that the pilot reported problems with one of the plane’s engines shortly after take-off and decided to land at the nearest airport. The pilot then informed the tower at Prestwick and an emergency plan was put in place. Fire crews signalled in the plane after landing and the emergency chutes were deployed.

Passengers later praised the British Airways flight crew for their handling of the situation.

(KmcA)

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

10 November 2017
Flybe Plane Makes Emergency Landing At Belfast International Airport
A Flybe plane has made an emergency landing at Belfast International Airport. The plane landed without nose-gear on the runway at around 1.30 pm today, 10 November. The BE331 flight to Inverness suffered technical difficulties after it took off from George Best Belfast City Airport at around 11.20am.
20 December 2012
Plane Makes Emergency Landing At Belfast City Airport
A Flybe plane has made an emergency landing at Belfast City Airport. It is believed the aeroplane had minor technical difficulties after leaving for Manchester on Wednesday night. The pilot made the decision to return to base as a precaution after 15 minutes. Emergency services were called to ensure the plane landed safely.
25 June 2014
Flight Forced To Make Emergency Landing
A plane travelling from Belfast to Barcelona has been forced to make an emergency landing following a suspected fuel leak. On Tuesday night, the Boeing 747 flight, which had around 150 passengers on board, was forced to re-route to Cork Airport. It landed safely at the airport just before midnight.
11 May 2010
'Solution' To Ryanair Emergency Revealed
Volcanic ash deposits weren't the direct cause of an emergency landing at George Best Belfast City Airport earlier today. Instead, the Ryanair plane to London Stansted was turned back for a "precautionary landing" because of cleaning fluid used to remove traces of the Icelanic ash from the engines.
30 August 2005
Emergency landing at Belfast City Airport
A flight bound for Liverpool from Belfast City Airport was forced to turn back this morning after an engine problem developed shortly after the plane had taken off.