Pilots were forced to perform 'go arounds' before attempting to land in Manchester on Tuesday night (April 11) in strong winds that hit the region.
One Jet2 flight, the LS892 from Lanzarote to Manchester, diverted to Birmingham and was seen 'tilting' overhead before the pilot circled and landed at Birmingham Airport. A 'go-around' is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach or has already touched down.
And another Jet2 flight, the LS782 from Gran Canaria, which was also due to land in Manchester, then landed 163 miles away after diverting to Newcastle, after its flight path showed the plane circling over the region multiple times.
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In a Manchester Airport Facebook group on Tuesday evening, one user shared a screenshot of the Jet2 Lanzarote to Manchester flight (LS892) path, writing: "Did anybody just witness this aircraft over Stockport? I thought it was falling from the sky."
Sharing a picture of the aircraft flying low over south Manchester, one person wrote: "Winds really strong. I live on Shadow Moss and they've been getting knocked around all afternoon." Another commented: "Yes me too, I watched it. Was tilting left very bad."
A third added: "It’s gone around heading south, very strong winds tonight."
According to FlightRadar24, the flight - that departed the Canary Islands at around 3pm - lowered to an altitude of around 2,300ft over Stockport on approach to Manchester airport before eventually turning and rerouting to Birmingham, landing at around 7.30pm.
And the LS782 flight, from Gran Canaria to Manchester Airport then appeared to abort its landing in Manchester at around 6.50pm, lowering to around 1,000 ft before circling multiple times over parts of Bolton and Lancashire.
The flight path on FlightRadar24 then shows the aircraft divert and travel more than 100 miles north towards Newcastle Airport and landing shortly before 8pm.
When approached by the M.E.N, Jet2 confirmed that both flights had been diverted due to the weather conditions and that passengers would receive transport on a coach back to Manchester.
It comes after the Met Office warned that heavy rain and winds of around 40mph were set to hit Greater Manchester with a yellow weather warning in place for parts of the UK throughout the afternoon.
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