An easyJet flight from Belfast was forced to make an emergency landing at Manchester Airport on Thursday after “strong winds” prevented the aircraft from landing.
Flight EZY047 from Belfast International to Leeds Bradford made a priority landing 60 miles away shortly before 5pm yesterday afternoon (5 September).
Gales up to 20mph battered the runways at the Leeds airport amid weather warnings across the UK this week.
The Met Office issued three days of weather warnings on Thursday including a yellow weather warning for rain and warnings of possible flooding.
According to data from FlightAware, the one hour flight took off from the Northern Irish capital at 2.57pm and flew for almost two hours before the Airbus A319 could land safely.
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “Flight EZY047 from Belfast International to Leeds Bradford has diverted to Manchester due to strong winds at Leeds gusting outside the limits of the aircraft.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and we are working to assist customers with options for onward travel from Manchester,” report Belfast Live.
It’s not the first time an aircraft has had to make an emergency landing this travel season.
An Air India flight en route from Delhi to Birmingham made a precautionary landing in Moscow after facing “technical problems” on Wednesday night (4 September).
The Air India Boeing 787-800 passenger plane to Britain made a safe emergency landing at the Russian capital’s Sheremetyevo airport, with all 258 passengers and 17 crew members unharmed.
In June, an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York reportedly made an emergency landing in Phoenix after passengers noticed lice in a woman’s hair.
An American Airlines spokesperson said in a statement: “On 15 June, American Airlines flight 2201 with service from Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK) diverted to Phoenix (PHX) due to the medical needs of a customer.”
For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast