FlyBe diverts plane due to emergency
On February 26, 2018, UK regional airline FlyBe’s flight from Edinburgh to London City airport had to be diverted to Manchester Airport and performed an emergency landing. The Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 carrying 63 passengers is thought to have suffered a technical issue after crossing the Scotland border.
A spokesperson for FlyBe told Aviationwales that “the captain of the above flight took the necessary action following a suspected technical fault with the aircraft and elected to divert to Manchester Airport as a precautionary measure. The aircraft landed safely without further incident and, as is normal in such circumstances, was met by the airport’s emergency vehicles. Once on stand, all 63 passengers disembarked as normal”. So far there are no reports on what the suspected technical issue was.
Just a week ago, on February 22, 2018, Croatia Airlines flight OU4456 emergency landed at Brussels Airport. On approach to the runway, one of the wheels of Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, carrying 58 passengers at the time, did not properly lock. The pilots managed to land the aircraft safely by entering a holding pattern and, in accordance with operating procedures, using an alternative pull-out procedure for the landing gear, a spokesperson for the airline told Aviation24.
Dnevnik reported that no passengers were injured during the incident and quoted a Croatia Airlines spokesperson, who also said that none of the people on board were under any threat during the incident. The plane was not able to taxi to its parking position and the subsequent return flight to Zagreb was cancelled.
