An easyJet flight made an emergency landing at Manchester Airport on Sunday afternoon (August 7), less than an hour after initially taking off from the runway. The EZY1877, from Manchester to the Spanish city of Bilbao, took off shortly after 2.30pm, but was soon back at Manchester.
It has since been confirmed a bird strike during take-off caused the plane to divert and land back at the Terminal One runway. Fire crews met the plane after landing and all passengers were disembarked.
A replacement aircraft was arranged to continue the passenger's journey to Spain, which usually takes just less than two hours. A 'bird strike', the reason for the swift landing, is described as a collision between a bird and an aircraft.
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Looking at the flight map on service Flightradar, the plane flew over Macclesfield before circling over the Peak District and then travelling north over Glossop and then heading back to Manchester Airport.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “ easyJet can confirm that flight EZY1877 flying from Manchester to Bilbao returned from airborne due to a bird strike during take-off. The pilot returned to Manchester in line with our procedures and as a precaution only.
"All passengers disembarked normally and a replacement aircraft has been arranged to continue the journey to Bilbao. Whilst this is outside of our control, we would like to apologise for any inconvenience experienced and thank passengers for their patience and understanding.
"The safety of passengers and crew is easyJet's highest priority”. Manchester Airport has been approached for comment.
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