This can’t have been the most reassuring sight.
A plane flying from Amsterdam to Manchester was forced to make an emergency landing in Birmingham Airport after a passenger spotted that a tyre had burst on take-off.
Sahibzada Suhail Ahmed Qadri was one of 76 passengers on board the Flybe flight and told the BBC that he and his fellow passengers felt “a big shudder” on board shortly after take-off.
“We looked out of the window and could see the tyre of the plane had burst,” Qadri said.
“It hadn’t gone back up into the undercarriage. We called over one of the cabin crew who couldn’t believe it. She informed the captain who made an announcement.”
Footage of plane making emergency landing in #Birmingham after tyre burst https://t.co/6VB2ijPQ9Shttps://t.co/K1FKgMDYRZ
— ITV News Central (@ITVCentral) August 30, 2016
Qadri took a picture of the burst tyre and posted it to Facebook, describing the atmosphere on board the flight as “scary”.
“We had to circle Birmingham Airport for about an hour to burn fuel before we could land,” he added.
“The runway was shut because of the emergency landing and we could see ambulances and emergency services crews and their flashing lights from up in the sky.
“It was a scary experience and I have mixed feelings about it. A couple behind me were very upset and were crying and hugging. I thought we would make it and that we would be OK.”
Birmingham Airport was closed for half an hour from approximately 3:25pm on Monday; a number of flights were delayed as a result.
A Flybe spokesperson said that the flight was diverted “as a precautionary measure, to take into consideration more favourable wind conditions” and passengers were subsequently taken from Birmingham Airport to Manchester by bus.
