News, West Midlands
Thousands of people travelling to and from Birmingham Airport have been affected by delays and cancellations after a light aircraft made an emergency landing on its runway.
Woodgate Aviation, which owns the plane, said one of its Beechcraft fixed-wing aircraft had developed landing gear problems on the journey from Birmingham to Belfast.
Two crew members and one passenger were onboard, but were not seriously injured when the main undercarriage collapsed on touch down.
The runway was shut for more than six hours until the plane was removed at about 19:30 BST, after which the airport said it had reopened.
The first plane to depart from the airport after its reopening was a Wizz Air flight to Bucharest, Romania, which had been scheduled to leave Birmingham at 14:10.
A number of flights on the Birmingham Airport online departure board also showed that they were open for check-in.
Some passengers told the that their planes were cancelled “moments before boarding” on Wednesday afternoon.
In a statement, a Birmingham Airport spokesperson said passengers should check flight details with their airlines.
“We understand the frustration and apologise for the disruption this has caused,” it added.
“Our teams have worked as quickly as possible, in line with strict protocols, which must be followed to ensure a safe reopening of the runway following a prolonged closure.”
At least 10 flights due to depart from the airport were cancelled.
Others were delayed by more than five hours, and more than 20 due to land there were diverted to other airports.
West Midlands Police, West Midlands Fire Service, and Birmingham Airport Police were among the agencies at the scene.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it was investigating the incident.
Faye, who was travelling with her partner and four children, said they found out about the incident on Facebook.
They had been due to fly to Antalya in Turkey with Jet2 at 14:55. While waiting at the airport, the family was given £10 per person by the airline or food and drinks.
Faye told the she subsequently received a text message saying the whole holiday had been cancelled, and there would be a full refund in four to five days.
She and her family were waiting to collect their baggage along with about 400 other people, her children “sobbing and crying”, she said.
“We are stuck here waiting for our baggage and it’s boiling hot… and now our kids aren’t going to have a holiday,” she added.
James Conibere and his family of eight were hoping to board a flight to Malta on Wednesday afternoon.
He told the it was a retirement gift for his mother-in-law, and they had arrived at the airport shortly before the incident, at 13:00.
While the family sat in a Wetherspoons, waiting for updates, Mr Conibere said he watched other passengers searching for somewhere to sit in the crowded pub, many of them frustrated.
“Lots of people are getting agitated and angry by the lack of information from the airport,” he said.
“We have received a food voucher from Ryanair. We’re relying on news outlets for information.”
What do we know about the aircraft?
The aircraft involved in this incident was a Beechcraft B200 Super King Air, a small, twin-engine propeller plane that has been in production since the 1970s.
This flight was departing from Birmingham and headed to Belfast.
It departed at 13:11, but soon had to make a turn and flew in a holding pattern, landing back at Birmingham Airport at 13:58.
The plane transmitted a 7700 squawk code – which are broadcast to tell air traffic control that there is an emergency and the aircraft needs priority handling.
