Plane carrying 50 passengers on flight from Scotland ‘damaged in heavy landing’

A PLANE carrying over 50 passengers on a flight from Scotland sustained damaged during a “heavy landing”, an investigation has found.

The flight left Edinburgh at around 9.30am heading towards Belfast on Saturday, December 30 last year.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) found that the aircraft sustained damage during high winds when landing.

A total of 53 passengers were on board the flight with four crew members.

During a second approach towards Belfast City Airport, the left main landing gear and nose landing gear hit the runway “heavily”.

The pilot decided to go-around and diverted to Belfast International Airport, where the aircraft landed “uneventfully”.

According to the investigation report, the operator reported that the nosewheel tyres were damaged and when the wheels were removed, the left nosewheel axle was slightly bent

There were no reported injuries.

The report added: “The landing gear sustained damage during a heavy touch down after the aircraft became destabilised, due to wind effects experienced during the flare, immediately before touchdown.”

Elsewhere, several flights were suspended at Edinburgh Airport yesterday morning over a runway emergency.

Passengers faced travel chaos and were hit with huge delays as planes were seen circling the capital waiting to land.

Edinburgh Airport bosses said teams carried out repairs on a “small breakup” on the runway.