Flight to Scotland forced to abort TWO landing attempts before plane diverted

Scottish Sun

20 hours ago

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A PLANE was forced to land 442 miles away from a Scottish airport after being unable to land TWICE due to strong winds.
The easyJet aircraft struggled to touch down at Edinburgh Airport yesterday as Storm Floris battered the country with gale-force winds.
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An easyJet flight was forced to divert after failing to land twice at Edinburgh Airport
Credit: Alamy
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Storm Floris caused chaos across Scotland yesterday
Credit: Steve Welsh
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Huge gusts of up to 100mph battered the country
Credit: Andrew Barr
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And it wreaked havoc across the rail network
The EZY254E flight from London Gatwick was due to land in the capital city at around 4.50pm yesterday after taking off at 3.30pm.
But the huge Airbus A319 plane ran into trouble as it approached Edinburgh.
The pilot tried to land but was forced to pull up and circle the airport before trying again.
But the 100mph gusts made it impossible, and the plane was forced to abort landing.
The passenger aircraft was then diverted back to its original airport, which was 372 miles away.
It eventually landed back at London Gatwick Airport at around 6.37pm.
Storm Floris wreaked havoc with transport across Scotland yesterday as an amber Met Office alert for severe weather warned there would be a danger to life with high waves and flying debris.
Several flights from Glasgow and Edinburgh Airport were axed amid the unsettled conditions.
Early in the morning, Loganair cancelled its departures to Islay, Campbeltown, Tiree and Barra.
Ferry services on Scotland's west coast were also thrown into turmoil.
Storm Floris hits with 90mph 'danger to life' wind set to wreak havoc – as thousands told do NOT travel
Several CalMac sailings have been disrupted, while some have been cancelled altogether.
ScotRail and Network Rail also cancelled hundreds of services across the country as the storm raged on.
Around 800 services were axed yesterday morning, and travellers were told that services on extremely busy routes wouldn't run after 12pm.
All services north of Perth were halted due to severe winds.
Rail services were withdrawn on several lines, including the West Highland Line, and all routes north of Perth and in Fife.
All other routes saw a reduced timetable and longer journey times.
ScotRail also announced the 'extremely intense' storm means train drivers were told they could not go over 50mph for safety reasons.
Once the storm has passed, Network Rail engineers will inspect closed lines for any damage.
But commuters were warned to expect disruption across services until at least 4pm today.
Fallen trees also caused a number of roads to be closed after being blown over by the powerful winds.
The A96 was shut in both directions near Old Rayne, Aberdeenshire, yesterday afternoon.
BLACKOUT
Close to 30,000 customers had their power supply cut off during the day yesterday as Storm Floris made landfall in Scotland.
Several power outages across were reported to SSEN at 12.07pm yesterday, mainly in the Highlands, Moray, and in Aberdeenshire.
Storm Floris hit the Outer Hebridean island of Eriskay with a blast, swiftly cutting out the island's electricity supplies on arrival.
Debris swirling in high winds is thought to have collided with power lines, impacting the local network.
The lights went off around 11am yesterday morning.
SSEN's Director of Customer Operations for the north of Scotland, Andy Smith, said: 'Storm Floris is a relatively rare summer storm, and the weather forecast suggests it'll have the potential to cause significant disruption to power supplies throughout today, and into the early hours of Tuesday.
"Its severity has increased over the several days we've been monitoring it, and over the course of the weekend, we put in place our well-rehearsed storm plans.
'We've got hundreds of additional team members ready to support our response. As soon as it's safe to do so, they'll quickly set about repairing network damage.
"At the height of summer, we've mounted an operation that's comparable in size to those we have when a storm hits in the depths of winter.
"I want to reassure our customers we're well prepared to respond to whatever Storm Floris brings.'
Cops warned drivers to avoid the area, and motorists travelling between Huntly and Inverurie should use alternative routes.
Police also urged the public to plan ahead and consider postponing travel until the weather improves.
Elsewhere, a number of campervans were blown over on the Isle of Skye.
Officers have received reports of incidents on the A87 between Broadford and Portree.
Police urged motorists not to travel on the Bealach na Ba road on the Applecross peninsula.
They also urged campervan drivers to stay put in sheltered areas until the wind speed drops.
Storm Floris is the first named storm to hit Scotland since Storm Eowyn in January.
EasyJet has been contacted for comment by the Scottish Sun.
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Several flights were cancelled due to the high winds
Credit: Getty