M1 closed due to flight emergency at airport

A PLANE was forced to make an emergency landing within minutes of taking off from East Midlands Airport on Sunday.

A full-scale emergency at the airport was declared and a large section of the M1 was closed when a plane started developing “computer issues”.

A MyTravel flight, loaded with holidaymakers heading to Larnaca, Cyprus, was forced to return to the airport shortly after it had taken off at about 2pm.

The motorway was closed between junctions 23A and 24 for a short time as a precaution.

A spokesman for East Midlands Airport said: “The 1.50pm My Travel flight to Larnaca developed a computer issues shortly after taking off and had to return.

“It landed back at East Midlands Airport safely.

“The M1 also had to be closed for around 15 minutes while the plane carried out an emergency landing.”

Travel company Inrix reported that all lanes of the M1 close to the airport were closed briefly due to “a police incident”.

The Highway Agency tweeted: “for safety reasons, #M1 is being held for a short time both directions J23A - J24 ... aim to have you moving soon, Thank you #Kegworth.”

Shortly afterwards it sent another tweet that read: “#M1 held traffic for both directions now being released near #Kegworth J24 - J23A ..thank you very much for your patience.”

Eyewitness Robert Lee, of Moira, near Swadlincote, watched from his back garden as the aeroplane tried to climb.

The 47-year-old said: “We live on the flight path and I know my planes so I could tell something was wrong. It sounded funny, it was not on its usual path.

“I phoned my partner and said to her ‘something’s not right here with this plane that’s flying over the house.

“It started to bank and then turned.

“I could tell it was heading back toward the airport.”

A Thomas Cook Airlines spokeswoman said: “Our flight to Larnaca returned to East Midlands airport yesterday as a precautionary measure due to a discrepancy with an onboard computer system.

“This was investigated and the aircraft took off four hours later.

“Our customers’ safety is always our top priority and we are very sorry for the delay and inconvenience caused.”