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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
World
Lee Dalgetty

Passengers onboard plane that 'tilted' in high winds describe terrifying moment before landing aborted

Passengers on a flight that was heading to the UK have spoken about the 'dramatic' moment the pilot was forced to abort landing, after the plane started 'tilting' in high winds.

Travellers said the 'scary' final half hour of their journey saw the pilot perform a 'go-around' before heading to another airport. The Manchester Evening News said the aircraft had to abort landing on final approach, and passengers felt 'a big drop'.

The ordeal took place on a flight from Lanzarote to Manchester, which was forced to land in Birmingham Instead. One passenger was coming back from a holiday with her three-year-old daughter.

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She said: "It was a bit scary. We are all used to having a little bit of turbulence on a plane, and we were told there would be a bit of bad weather getting close to Manchester.

"It seemed normal, I remember the pilot telling us we were about 30 minutes away. We were coming through the clouds, and we could see the airport. Then suddenly we heard the engine kick in and felt a big drop. It was dramatic."

Jennifer said passengers went quiet, and even the cabin crew looked a bit unnerved, but the pilot kept the whole plane updated with what was happening.

The flight was spotted taking an odd path (MEN)

"The pilot was very good," she said. "He explained and said we had to abort the landing and we had to go to Birmingham. That wasn't a very nice 20 minutes. I think we were all worried about the landing in Birmingham because that wasn't easy either.

"It was a bit scary when the plane suddenly pulled up. It was a bit like a rollercoaster. My daughter loves flying, but she went quiet. It was a big relief to get to Birmingham!"

She said the passengers all gave 'a round of applause' when the plane landed successfully, and said the cabin crew did 'a very good job'.

One social media user shared a screenshot of the plane's flight 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 second flight from Gran Canaria to Manchester Airport was also forced to abandon its landing at Manchester Airport due to the weather conditions, lowering to around 1,000 ft before circling multiple times over parts of Bolton and Lancashire.

It then diverted to Newcastle Airport, where it landed shortly before 8pm. 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.

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