Hero pilot’s high-speed landing with no wing flaps
A Jet2 plane A HERO pilot pulled off a terrifying emergency landing yesterday after the wing flaps on his passenger jet broke – meaning he could not slow it down for when it hit the runway.
Jet2 flight LS444 from Heraklion, on Crete, was due at Leeds Bradford Airport but switched to Manchester Airport so it had a longer runway.
A woman on the jet, who asked not to be named, said: “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 stay calm. There were a lot of kids, as you can imagine.
“Even the captain’s voice was shaking, he sounded scared but he just tried to reassure us. It was scary. You could see the smoke coming off the wheels and the brakes were screaming.”
PETRIFYING
Passengers gave the captain a huge round of applause. “He nailed it,” said one. “He came out and he looked quite shaken up.
“It was an absolutely petrifying experience.”
Penie Craig, 49, from Hull, was travelling with husband Michael, 54, and son Jaiden, 14, and said the plane was due to land at 1.30am.
She said: “We were due at Leeds Bradford and the runway there wasn’t big enough, we would have gone off the runway.
“The captain 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 awful but I had to be calm as my son was there. We were all frightened.
“We landed at a very fast speed and the brakes went on. It was very stressful and many were very emotional.”
Jet2 arranged coaches to transfer them back to Leeds Bradford. A spokesman said: “The decision was taken to divert to Manchester as a precautionary measure due to it having a longer runway to facilitate a smooth landing. The safety of our customers is always our number one priority.”