Birmingham Airport latest: Flights cancelled after plane’s ‘under-carriage collapses’

Birmingham Airport has reported that its runway has reopened and all operation have resumed.

“Following the aircraft incident today, the runway has reopened and operations have resumed.

“All passengers must check flight details with their airlines and follow advice issued by them. We understand the frustration and apologise for the disruption this has caused.

“Our teams have worked as quickly as possible, in line with strict protocols, which must be followed to ensure a safe reopening of the runway following a prolonged closure.”

The plane which crashed on the runway is Woodgate Aviation, self-described as a leading provider of corporate, business, private and general aviation services in Northern Ireland since 1969.

The plane was preparing to return to its home base in Belfast when things went wrong.

“The aircraft remains on the runway and Woodgate Aviation will be co-operating fully with Air Accident investigators and airport services.

“We would like to pay tribute to the professionalism of our colleagues and the emergency services at the airport for their prompt action,” Woodgate Aviation said in a statement.

As Birmingham Airport recovers from its closure, its departures board shows flights are set to be affected into the early hours of tomorrow morning.

A flight to Amsterdam scheduled to leave at 6am has been cancelled and other flights have orange alert symbols nearby them on the departures board, according to the website.

Woodgate Aviation has said that its plane developed landing gear problems en route to Belfast.

“The aircraft returned to Birmingham and made an emergency landing and the main under-carriage collapsed on touch down.”

According to its website, Birmingham Airport is the seventh-largest airport in the UK and the third largest outside London, handling approximately 11.5 million passengers in 2023.

By 2033, it hopes to increase this figure by 50 per cent to reach 18 million.

Home to around 30 airlines, it offers over 130 direct routes and over 450 one-stop destinations from its one terminal.

Faye Melhuish, who arrived home from a holiday in Spain with her six-month-old daughter, said her plane could not land at Birmingham Airport and had to be diverted.

The 38-year-old said: “We flew from Spain and we were due to land here at 2.20pm. Then, in the air we were circling to see if we could land.

“The captain basically said we are going to have to go to East Midlands (Airport).”

Ms Melhuish said she had to wait for around an hour for a coach to bring her back to Birmingham Airport.

She said: “It could have been a lot worse. We were worried we were going to end up sitting on the runway at East Midlands.”

Speaking about her daughter, Ms Melhuish said: “It’s her first time on a plane and her first time on a coach.”

Woodgate Aviation said one of its Beechcraft fixed-wing aircraft was involved in an emergency landing at Birmingham Airport on Wednesday.

It said in a statement: “The turbo-prop aircraft was on a flight to Belfast International Airport when it developed landing gear problems. The aircraft returned to Birmingham and made an emergency landing and the main under-carriage collapsed on touch down.

“Two crew members and a passenger were on board but were uninjured.

“The aircraft remains on the runway and Woodgate Aviation will be co-operating fully with Air Accident investigators and airport services.

“We would like to pay tribute to the professionalism of our colleagues and the emergency services at the airport for their prompt action.”