Investigators probe plane crash at major UK airport after Manchester

Investigators are continuing to probe a plane crash at a major UK airport which cancelled and delayed flights to Manchester.

The small aircraft, which crash-landed just days before Christmas, previously underwent examination work as part of the investigations carried out by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.

The ATR 72 plane, operated by Emerald Airlines for Aer Lingus, suffered an emergency incident at Belfast City Airport at around 4pm on December 22, as it attempted to land in ‘adverse weather conditions’.

It appeared that the aircraft’s nose wheel collapsed as it landed. It was later confirmed that the plane suffered damaged nose landing gear upon landing at the airport.

The Aer Lingus aircraft at Belfast City Airport -Credit:Jacob Bushe

The plane remained on the runway while emergency crews dealt with the crash. Four crew and no passengers were on board at the time, and there were no reported injuries in the incident.

The incident led to the cancellation or diversion off all flights in and out of Belfast City Airport for the remainder of the day, including flights to and from Manchester Airport.

According to the Manchester Airport departures page at the time, the 4.10pm flight to Belfast City and the 7.40pm flight were both cancelled.

Flights from Belfast City to Manchester were also cancelled on Sunday, including those at 2.25pm, 3.50pm and 6pm. The runway reopened the following day.

In a new statement, a spokesperson for the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said: “Our investigation into the accident which occurred on 22^nd December at Belfast City Airport is still ongoing.”

It is understood that investigations of this nature by the AAIB could take between nine to 12 months to complete.

And a spokesperson for Emerald Airlines, exclusive operator of Aer Lingus Regional services, added: “An Emerald Airlines positioning flight, EA701P, with no passengers on board, flying from Edinburgh to Belfast City Airport, 22nd December 2024, experienced a hard landing upon arriving into Belfast City Airport due to adverse weather conditions. Due to ongoing reviews, we will not be providing further comment at this time.”

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