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Gatwick airport runway shut after emergency landing
Ben Bailey24.07.09
Britain's busiest holiday airport was closed to all flights today after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing.
A Cardiff-bound Dash 8 aircraft, with 46 passengers on board, had to put down at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex.
All the passengers and crew were able to disembark safely from the aircraft, which was flying in from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
The plane remained parked just off the runway and the runway was shut from around 11.25am until just before 1pm.
It is believed the aircraft may have suffered a smoke problem.
An airport spokesman said 11 flights due to land at Gatwick were diverted to other airports, while another 15 were in waiting-to-land "stacking" positions.
He went on: "Three other flights have been held on the ground. We are advising those due to take flights today to turn up as normal.
"This is a busy day but it's not our most busy of the summer. We're hoping that delays will be kept to a minimum."
Reader views (4)
A fine example why Gatwick should build a second runway which can work in tandem with its existing ones (the "second" runway now is only a backup and is too close to the other one)
And yes to third runway at Heathrow.
- Ed, London
Thank goodness they are ok. But tell you what lets double flights over central London because aircraft accidents NEVER happen right?
- Christian Ball, London, UK
Handled well, and in the era of aviation not a spectacular event or particularly newsworthy - handled in a professional straightforward manor by Mr. Bailey.
- Trunk, US
Sorry that this aircraft which is designed to land on short strips of virtual gravel inconvenienced so many people today at a major London airport. I seem to remember that RAF Manston was the emergency runway of choice but I suppose no more. Just be grateful they did not have to lay down a carpet of foam as that would have been disruptive. A strange statistic is that during one year Dash 8 planes accounted for half of all emergency landings at Copenhagen.
- Jack Spratt, Richmond, Surrey
