An easyJet flight landed to fire crews on the runway after it needed to return to Manchester Airport.
The EZY2033 flight, from Manchester to Alicante, left on Tuesday afternoon but circled back shortly after, as passengers reported hearing a "weird noise" when up in the air. The noise heard was described as "grinding" by a person onboard.
The flight path shows how the flight initially took off at 12.30pm, before circling six times over the Peak District, flying over Cheshire and eventually returning back to Manchester an hour later. A spokesperson for easyJet said the flight needed to land as a "technical issue" with the aircraft "could not be resolved."
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They added the "safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is our highest priority." The plane was met by fire engines on the runway at Manchester Airport.
It is understood this is a standard procedure in instances where pilots make emergency landings due to technical fault. Passengers have now been booked onto alternate flights. One passenger on board told the M.E.N: "There was a weird big grinding noise on take off. Then we didn't seem to get any higher and could tell we were circling.
"After a while, the pilot came on saying there was a technical issue and we had to return to Manchester. On landing, all fire engines were around the runway and plane when we came to a stop.
"We were told we’d get further info on what was happening and were eventually told flight was cancelled. We got a message when we were sat in departures waiting for information telling us it was cancelled and offering us the chance to re-book. We have re-booked for tomorrow morning."
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “easyJet can confirm that flight EZY2023 from Manchester to Alicante this evening returned from airborne due to a technical issue. The captain performed a routine landing in line with standard operating procedures and the aircraft was met by emergency services as a precaution only.
“Passengers disembarked normally at Manchester and as the issue could not be resolved this evening the flight has unfortunately been unable to operate so we are doing all possible to minimise the impact for passengers, providing options to rebook or receive a refund, as well as hotel accommodation and meals for those customers who require them.
“The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is easyJet's highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all manufacturers’ guidelines.”
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