Belfast City Airport runway closed after emergency incident

Belfast City Airport’s runway will be closed for the rest of Sunday after an Aer Lingus plane suffered an emergency incident while landing during strong winds.

The plane had flown from Edinburgh to Belfast at about 16:00 GMT with four crew members but no passengers on board.

It appears the plane’s nose wheel collapsed during landing, with pictures showing its nose resting on the runway tarmac.

It is understood no-one was seriously hurt.

It was a “positioning flight” operated by Emerald Airlines on behalf of Aer Lingus.

Emerald Airlines said it “experienced a hard landing upon arriving into Belfast City Airport due to adverse weather conditions”.

The police, fire service and ambulance crews were immediately deployed to the airport.

Fire Service Area Commander David Doherty said firefighters responded at 16:15 GMT after the airport “declared a full emergency”.

They sent several units as part of their expected response to an airport emergency, but he said firefighters did not have to take any immediate action.

Their resources were quickly redeployed but some crews have remained at the scene as a precaution, Mr Doherty added.

Two flights – from London City and Leeds Bradford – due to land at the airport have since arrived at Belfast International Airport after being diverted.