There were 56 people onboard.
A Flybe plane that took off from Belfast Airport this morning declared an emergency onboard.
The BE331 flight left George Best Belfast City Airport at 11:20am and was heading for Inverness but shortly after its departure from Belfast, AirLive.net reported that the plane had a “possible nose gear issue.”
The flight tracking website reported that the plane was circling the skies for more than two hours to burn fuel before attempting to make an emergency landing.
The website stated: “Flybe #BE331 will continue to burn fuel in holding pattern to reduce weight as much as possible before an emergency landing.”
There were 52 passengers on board and four crew members.
Just before 2pm on Friday afternoon, they announced that the plane had landed back safely in Belfast and just before 2:30pm, it was announced that passengers were safely evacuated onto the runway.
A Flybe spokesman said: “Flybe can confirm that there has been an incident involving one of our Bombardier Q-400 aircraft, flight BE331, which landed with no nose gear in place.
“The aircraft departed from Belfast City at 11.07am bound for Inverness. The incident occurred at Belfast International Airport at approximately 1.30pm.
“Our primary concern is for the welfare of the passengers and crew.”
Flybe #BE331 landed at Belfast BFS with nose gear up, runway closed, fire services on scene (pic: @ShandieLeaks) Live updates: https://t.co/rhaoiuDX2a pic.twitter.com/cavFvOtFEp
— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) November 10, 2017
Pictures show the aircraft with its nose unsupported on the landing strip.
Belfast 2 Inverness @flybe emergency landing at Belfast International airport….all passengers safely off…including our Bruce! pic.twitter.com/qhemzLLPYA
— Trish Corbett (@Trisha_C1) November 10, 2017
One person on board was taken to hospital for a minor hand injury following the crash but Flybe said there were no further reports of any other passengers or crew injuries.
Firefighters were on standby at the Airport but no action was needed, Flybe concluded the statement by saying “the airport is still open and full emergency procedures have been deployed.”
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