A Jet2 aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing at Manchester Airport following a suspected bird strike shortly after take-off, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Flight LS443 departed from Leeds Bradford Airport at around 9am on Monday as scheduled, en route to Heraklion in Crete. However, shortly after take-off, the aircraft reportedly collided with a bird.

Passengers said they heard a “very loud bang,” and the pilot immediately halted the climb.

The aircraft then diverted and made an emergency landing at Manchester Airport, touching down at approximately 9:53am.

Alex, a passenger from Baildon, told the Yorkshire Post that he heard the loud impact followed by an “immediate smell of burning feathers and flesh.”

“We held north of Manchester Airport at 10,000ft for an hour or so as we waited to land,” he said.

He added that emergency crews met the aircraft on the runway to inspect the engine and landing gear after a heavy landing. Passengers were then transferred to another A320 aircraft at Manchester and continued their journey, returning to the air by lunchtime.

According to aviation monitoring systems, the aircraft had been circling at a reduced altitude of around 4,500 feet while pilots assessed the situation and potential damage.

Alex also praised the airline’s handling of the incident, saying: “The crew handled it brilliantly with immediate updates from the cockpit to put people at ease and let us know the plan.”

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev