Jet makes emergency landing at ‘full-speed’
CAPTAIN ‘NAILS IT’ AFTER FLAPS FAILURE LEAVES PASSENGERS ‘PETRIFIED’
A JET2 flight had to make a ‘full speed’ emergency landing at Manchester due to broken wing flaps.
Passengers on board flight LS444 from Heraklion on the Greek island of Crete described the experience as ‘absolutely petrifying.’
The passenger jet, packed with families returning from summer holidays, was supposed to be landing at Leeds-Bradford airport. But after a delayed take-off, the flight began circling at around midnight.
The captain then explained that the wing flaps used to decrease the plane’s speed were malfunctioning.
The decision was taken to make an emergency landing but at Manchester where there is a longer runway.
A mum-of-three, who was on board but asked not to be named, told the M.E.N.: “The captain said we needed more stopping room because we’re going to be coming in at full speed and just using the brakes.
“Everyone tried to remain really, really calm. There were a lot kids on board, as you can imagine.
“Even the captain’s voice was shaking, he sounded scared but he just tried to reassure us saying ‘it’s going to be a bumpy landing, we’re going to be greeted by fire engines – but your safety is paramount.’
“It was quite scary coming down the runway, there was fire engines there straight away.
“You could see the smoke coming off the wheels and the brakes were screaming. I got into a brace position but I was just trying not to panic the children.
“People generally remained pretty calm although there was one or two sending text messages to family.” Fortunately, the flight landed safely with no reports of any injuries. The captain received a huge round of applause and came out to greet everyone afterwards. “He absolutely nailed it,” said the passenger. “The captain handled it like a pro. He came out and he looked quite shaken up – it was an absolutely petrifying experience.” Another passenger said she feared the plane would ‘go up in flames’ as it came in to land in the early hours of Saturday. Penie Craig, 49, from Hull, was travelling with Husband Michael, 54, and son Jaiden, 14. She said that she sensed something was wrong when the plane failed to land at the estimated time and an announcement followed from the captain who said he was having to circle the plane because of a ‘technical error on the flight deck.’
Mrs Craig said: “He couldn’t use the flaps to slow down so as soon as we hit the ground he would have to brake flat-out.
“It was just awful and my first thought was, ‘oh my God, the plane was going to set on fire’ but I had to be calm because my son was there.
“When we did land there were six fire engines on the runway and my son said he saw them spray the wheels with water because they were that hot from the pilot having to break so hard.”
Jet2 arranged coaches for passengers to be transferred back to LeedsBradford. A spokesman said: “The safety of our customers is always our number one priority.”
You could see the smoke coming off the wheels and the brakes were screaming Mum-of-three passenger on the flight