US Air Force jet forced to land at Prestwick after emergency

A US Air force plane was forced to land after declaring an in-flight emergency while in the skies over Scotland.

The Boeing KC-135 broadcast a ‘7700’ emergency code while above Mull yesterday around 8am.

The air-to-air refuelling aircraft managed to land at Prestwick Airport shortly after declaring the code, which experts say could have been for a range of issues, from a blown fuse to a fault with landing gear.

According to the flight Emergency monitoring service, the Boeing jet was at 26,000 feet heading towards the southwest of Scotland when it announced the emergency. It is understood the aircraft was due to land at RAf Mildenhall in Suffolk, but because of ‘unfavourable weather conditions’ it was diverted to the Ayrshire runway.

While en route it declared the in-flightemergency – believed to be an issue relating to control issues.

A spokesman for Glasgow Prestwick Airport said: ‘We can confirm that an aircraft diverted today, due to technical issues. The aircraft landed safely.’

A public affairs spokesman at RAf Mildenhall, home of the 100th Air Refueling Wing, said: ‘The US Air force aircraft which landed at Prestwick Airport had been diverted from RAf Mildenhall due to unfavourable weather conditions. However, due to a mechanical issue discovered en route, the aircrew requested priority landing clearance via an “in-flight emergency” or “IfE”. The aircraft is not assigned to the 100th Air Refueling Wing.’

The KC-135 can refuel fighter jets and other aircraft mid-air and can carry almost 91 tons of fuel. It can also be used to transport cargo or evacuate patients and is regularly seen above Scotland helping Nato aircraft.

A US Air force public affairs spokesman last night said: ‘An Air force KC-135 assigned to the 117th Air Refueling Wing from Birmingham, Alabama, made a precautionary unscheduled landing at Glasgow Prestwick airport due to unfavourable weather conditions at RAf Mildenhall and subsequent maintenance issues in-flight.

‘There was no danger to the aircrew. following a short delay, the aircrew are expected continue on with their mission.’