EasyJet flight landing at UK airport sparks major emergency services incident

15 February 2024 , 09:02

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The response came ahead of an easyJet flight's arrival (Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)

Emergency services rushed to Manchester Airport on Wednesday night as an easyJet flight from Alicante was due to land.

The plane, flight EZY2016, had reported a technical issue with its on-board computer before landing. The police and fire service were called out to prepare for the plane's arrival in case of a serious situation. However, Manchester Airport confirmed that the flight landed safely and passengers were allowed to disembark as normal.

easyJet said in a statement: "We can confirm that flight EZY2016 from Alicante to Manchester on 14 February was met by emergency services on arrival at Manchester as a precaution only, due to a minor technical issue. The captain performed a routine landing in line with procedures and passengers disembarked normally. The safety of our passengers and crew is easyJet's highest priority."

Last week, The Mirror reported how an EasyJet flight from the UK, carrying over 150 passengers, was reportedly close to crashing into Lake Geneva. It was only thanks to the quick actions of Swiss air traffic controllers who alerted the pilots to their alarming descending altitude. The Airbus A320 Neo had taken off from Edinburgh, Scotland, and was heading to Geneva on November 5 last year - with 157 passengers on board.

However, during its approach, over Lake Geneva, the plane ended up not far from the surface of the water. Instead of its reportedly usual around 700 metres from the surface, the flight was just 230 metres up when the air traffic controllers intervened. The Mail reported that they told the pilots “check your altitude immediately!"

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The Swiss Safety Investigation Services (SESE) said: "During the approach to runway 22, the aircraft descended significantly below the glide slope and the flight crew initiated a go-around,".

In a statement, EasyJet told the Mirror: "We are fully supporting the investigation in line with procedures. At no point was the safety of those onboard compromised. The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always easyJet's highest priority."

Whilst it isn’t clear what happened, a pilot and former air traffic controller, interviewed by Le Parisien, alleged it could be an issue of human error.

Stephen Topping