A pilot has been praised after a flybe Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 dramatically crash landed at Belfast International Airport today without its front wheel. Flybe flight BE331 was carrying 52 passengers and four crew members and made an emergency landing after the landing gear failed to deploy when the aircraft attempted to land.
The flight BE331 experienced a technical snag after it took off from George Best Belfast City Airport and was compelled to hover over Belfast for more than 2 hours to reduce fuel and weight for an effective emergency landing. The Inverness-bound plane skidded along the runway before coming to a halt with its nose touching the ground.
Flybe Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 landing without nose landing gear
Hailing the actions of the crew, Brian Strutton, general secretary of pilots’ union Balpa, said: ‘Landing without a nose gear is a very difficult manoeuvre, but one pilots train extensively for.
All the passengers on board averted serious injuries except one passenger who was taken to nearby hospital with minor hand injury. The airport’s main runway remained closed to other aircraft and fire engines rushed to the plane and all passengers and crew were evacuated safely.
This incident has just came months after a Flybe plane from Edinburgh was evacuated when its landing gear collapsed during touchdown at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
