Monarch Airlines Makes Emergency Landing at Birmingham Airport
Monarch Airlines had to make an emergency landing at Birmingham Airport shortly after takeoff. The 6:45pm flight was en route from the airport to Tenerife with 213 passengers on board when it had to return and land back at the airport at 6:55pm. A couple of witnesses on the ground said that they could see flames coming from one of the engines on the plane, but the airline said there was no indication of a fire found by engineers.
One passenger, Clive Beckett, described the incident, saying that they heard a huge bang that was followed with another one. His wife was traveling with him and saw a sheet of flames come from an engine. The pilot alerted the crew to the situation and said that they lost an engine, he continued. Many of the passengers were scared, crying and thinking they were going to die, as the plane was shaking, he added, and it was shocking when they disembarked and there were no paramedics waiting for them.
Monarch Airlines confirmed that there was a problem with the left engine shortly after takeoff and it had to be shutdown. The pilot returned to Birmingham Airport as a precautionary measure. The plane landed safely, and all the passengers got off as normal, the airline said. They were asked to wait in the terminal building at first while the carrier arranged alternative transport. However, they were put up in hotels overnight later.
The Civil Aviation Authority said that an engine failing wouldn’t have been a serious safety risk for the crew and passengers on board. All planes are designed to fly if an engine fails, they explained, so the aircraft would have operated quite comfortably with its other engine. It’s not common for planes in the UK to experience engine failure, as they have a very good safety record, the regulator continued. This wasn’t a critical incident, they added, noting that all pilots are trained to deal with engine failure in simulator training.
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