An ATR 72 aircraft crash-landed at Belfast Airport, prompting an investigation into the incident with no injuries reported
Belfast: So, there was this aircraft that crash-landed at Belfast City Airport after taking off from Edinburgh just before Christmas. It’s a bit of a mess, really. The investigators are still looking into what happened.
The plane, an ATR 72 operated by Emerald Airlines for Aer Lingus, had a rough time landing in some pretty high winds. It was around 4 PM on December 22 when things went south.
Apparently, the nose wheel collapsed during the landing. Luckily, there were only four crew members on board, and thankfully, no one got hurt. But it caused a real headache for travelers.
All flights in and out of Belfast City Airport were canceled or diverted for the rest of the day, which really threw a wrench in a lot of Christmas plans. The runway was back in action the next day, though.
The aircraft is still sitting at the airport, and it’s not clear when it’ll be back in the air. A spokesperson from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch mentioned that they haven’t moved the plane yet because they need to do more checks.
These investigations can take a while, like nine to twelve months, so it’s going to be a long wait for updates. They said it’s still too early to give any new information.
Aer Lingus was asked when the plane might be ready to fly again, but the spokesperson for Emerald Airlines just said they’re doing ongoing reviews and didn’t have much else to add.
They did mention that the flight from Edinburgh to Belfast experienced a hard landing due to the bad weather. So, fingers crossed they get it sorted soon!
