Aircraft makes emergency landing at Belfast airport: Panic as plane’s landing gear fails in rough landing due to strong 82mph winds hitting the UK

Emergency services quickly responded to Belfast City Airport after a plane crash-landed on the runway due to severe 82mph winds in Britain.

The airport had to shut down its runway following an incident involving an Aer Lingus aircraft that experienced difficulty during landing in the stormy conditions.

Reports indicate that the plane’s front landing gear failed upon touchdown, leading to images of the plane off to the side of the runway with two fire trucks nearby.

A spokesperson for Belfast City Airport said there were four crew members and no passengers on board the aircraft when the incident happened. It is understood that no-one was seriously hurt.

The plane was a ‘positioning flight’ operated by Emerald Airlines on behalf of Aer Lingus and had flown from Edinburgh to Belfast at about 4pm. 

As a result of the incident, a number of flights have been diverted to Belfast International Airport, including a British Airways flight from London City and an Aer Lingus flight from Leeds Bradford.

Delays are also now expected on flights that are due to arrive at Belfast City Airport.

It comes as around 100 flights were cancelled at Heathrow Airport yesterday after the Met Office covered the UK in a yellow alert signifying ‘a prolonged period of strong winds’. 

A spokesperson for Emerald Airlines said: ‘An Emerald Airlines positioning flight, EA701P, with no passengers on board, flying from Edinburgh to Belfast City Airport experienced a hard landing upon arriving into Belfast City Airport due to adverse weather conditions.’ 

A spokesperson for Belfast City Airport said: ‘At around 4pm today, Sunday 22 December, an Aer Lingus regional flight, operated by Emerald Airlines, had an incident on landing at Belfast City Airport. 

‘This was a positioning fight with no passengers but four crew members onboard.

‘The airport’s emergency procedures were enacted. The runway is currently closed and will be for the rest of the day. Passengers are asked to contact their airline.’

Millions of travellers have faced disruption during the busiest weekend of the year, as the 82mph gusts wreaked havoc on the UK’s roads, ferries and rail services.

The Met Office said yellow warnings for wind, which came into force at 7am on Saturday, are expected to remain in place until 9pm on Sunday. 

London Heathrow made the decision to call off the flights while P&O Ferries said journeys between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan in southern Scotland have been cancelled until at least 8pm on Sunday.

Several Loganair flights from Glasgow Airport to the Hebridean islands have been cancelled, and 18 CalMac ferry routes have also been axed.

Rail operator ScotRail said speed restrictions are in place for part of the route between Glasgow and Oban/Mallaig, and the Inverness service to Kyle/Wick.

The AA predicted 21.3 million drivers will hit the road on Sunday, while 22.7 million had been expected on Saturday, slightly fewer than the 23.7 million on Friday which was expected to be the busiest day on the roads since the group’s records began in 2010.

A spokesperson said: ‘If the congestion wasn’t enough of a headache, the inclement weather could create the perfect storm.

‘We advise those heading out to allow extra time to travel and increase the distance between themselves and other road users.’

Of the Heathrow cancellations, eighty are on British Airways and involve short-haul domestic and European flights.

Three round-trips to Amsterdam and Glasgow have also been grounded.

Other airlines affected are Aer Lingus; Dublin Eurowings; Cologne Iberia; Madrid KLM; Amsterdam Lufthansa; Frankfurt (two round-trips) SAS; Oslo Swiss; Zurich TAP; Lisbon Turkish Airlines; Istanbul Virgin Atlantic: Miami.

It comes as Heathrow Airport announced a ‘small number of flights’ had been stopped due to ‘strong winds and airspace restriction’ and British Airways said disruption was likely to continue throughout the weekend.

A spokesman for the airline said: ‘Due to adverse weather this weekend, restrictions have been put on the number of flights able to take off and land at Heathrow and therefore we’ve had to make a small number of cancellations.

‘We’re offering free flight changes for those customers booked on short-haul services who don’t wish to travel this weekend, and we will be offering rebooking and refund options as always to those whose journeys are disrupted as a result of the restrictions.

‘While the vast majority of our customers will travel as planned, our teams are working hard to help those who have been affected get their travel plans back on track at this important time of year.’ 

Stefan Donnelly, 35, had travelled from London to Scotland where he discovered his ferry from Cairnryan to Larne had been cancelled.

Mr Donnelly had planned to travel at 8pm on Saturday but has managed to rebook onto the 8pm sailing on Sunday.

The marketing manager, who is travelling home to Northern Ireland for Christmas, said communication from P&O Ferries had been poor as he only discovered his sailing had been cancelled from social media.

‘I was on my way to Cairnryan yesterday and happened to check Twitter to discover my ferry was cancelled,’ Mr Donnelly said.

‘I stopped in Ayr and booked a night in a hotel there.

‘There wasn’t any communication from P&O, I didn’t get an email or a text message or anything.

‘I was on the phone for about an hour-and-a-half this morning but I eventually got through to someone.

‘They were saying on the Twitter side that the 8pm ferry I’m getting today was full but then they weren’t actually, and I’m traveling as a foot passenger, which makes it easier for (P&O).’ 

The comments come as there could also be a short term loss of power and other services on top of journeys generally taking longer with the likelihood of this impacting some bus and train services. 

So far this weekend, the strongest wind speed has been recorded at 82mph in Kirkwall on Orkney and the South Uist Range.

Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said that Sunday could see gusts of up to 75mph.

He said: ‘There will continue to be more challenging travel conditions, with coastal areas seeing around 50 to 60mph winds.

‘Extremely exposed coastal areas could see up to 70 or 75mph and parts of the west are expected to see 40 or 50mph.

‘In the evening we are expecting these to ease and gradually drop off.

‘My advice for people travelling today and tonight is to take it easy, particularly in the north and east. The main concern is that there’s the potential for icy patches in some areas.’ 

A yellow warning corresponds to a ‘medium likelihood and a low impact’. 

Sleet, snow and hail has already fallen across large swathes of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland today – as well as heavy rainfall.

The delays and cancellations at Heathrow come after the airport had said earlier this week that it was bracing for the busiest Christmas period in history. 

The airport said it was expecting the number of passengers travelling through its terminals on December 25 to be 21 per cent higher than on the same day a year ago.  

Heathrow also predicted that the number of passengers for December will exceed the previous record of 6.7 million last year. 

But air plane passengers are not the only ones bracing themselves for mayhem.

Long delays at the Port of Dover saw holidaymakers in long queues as they tried to board the ferry for the Christmas getaway. 

Meanwhile, passengers waited at St Pancras International station to get the Eurostar while others waited to board trains at Kings Cross Station for the festive season.