Thousands face travel chaos after emergency landing shuts runway at Birmingham airport
Police, fire and ambulance crews all went to the runway as the emergency developed. Three people on board the aircraft were treated at the scene, one suffering minor injuries, West Midlands Police said.
Passengers faced hours of delays, even after the runway reopened, including many in Europe trying to fly back to Birmingham.
Airport bosses announced at around 2.40pm on Wednesday that the runway was temporarily closed. It reopened shortly before 8pm.
The light aircraft was heading for Belfast International Airport when it developed landing gear problems.
Footage and photographs appeared to show a small white turboprop plane, understood to be a Beechcraft B200 Super King Air, lying flat on the airport tarmac.
The same type of aircraft was also involved in a crash at London Southend Airport in July, which killed four people.
The Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) said it had started an investigation, with a team including 'inspectors with expertise in aircraft operations, engineering and recorded data' sent to the scene.
Airport chiefs apologised for the disruption.
Flights originally scheduled to depart as far back as 2.10pm were taking off after the runway re-opened, but others faced delays as late as 12.10am on Thursday, according to Birmingham Airport's website.
Woodgate Aviation, the owner of the plane, said: 'The aircraft returned to Birmingham and made an emergency landing and the main under-carriage collapsed on touch-down.'
Diana Celella, an interior designer from Sutton Coldfield, was due to return from Lisbon on a Ryanair flight departing at 8.20pm after a holiday, but saw online that the flight was delayed by nearly three hours.
She said: 'My husband and I have had a lovely holiday, so it's a real shame to end it with this delay.
'The atmosphere among fellow passengers is mostly resigned - everyone we've spoken to recognises that it's out of Ryanair's control.'
West Midlands Ambulance Service said in a statement: 'We were called at 1.45pm to an incident involving a light aircraft at Birmingham Airport.
'Hazardous Area Response Team (Hart) paramedics and three paramedic officers were sent to the scene.
'Upon arrival we found three patients from the aircraft, all of whom were assessed and discharged at the scene.'
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