20 February 2024 , 18:56
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A Tui passenger jet was forced into an emergency landing at Manchester Airport due to a technical problem.
The Boeing 737 Max 8, which carries up to 210 passengers, departed from Newcastle Airport at 9.39am today for Cape Verde, but the captain aborted the flight near Spain, over the Bay of Biscay and returned to the UK.
Video captured from the scene showed the airport's fire engines following the jet moments after it touched down. Passengers on board flight Tom800 were disembarked once the plane arrived at the terminal and were later boarded onto a replacement aircraft which set off for Sal, Cape Verde at 2.30pm.
It is understood the original aircraft developed a problem with its de-icing equipment and is now being examined by engineers. The airline has apologised to passengers and offered a £100 holiday voucher 'in light of this disruption to the start of their holiday'.
The flight was en route for Cape Verde (MEN Media/@Mike1774)A spokesman for Manchester Airport confirmed the emergency landing took place due to a 'technical issue'. They told the Manchester Evening News: "The fire engines look dramatic but they're just standard procedure when a plane returns due to a technical issue as a precaution."
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A Tui spokesperson said: "We'd like to apologise to customers on TOM800 from Newcastle to Sal, Cape Verde who were required to divert to Manchester to change planes due to a minor technical issue. Our goal is to ensure our customers have the best possible flight experience, so this is not way we wanted their holiday to start.
"We have offered them a gesture of goodwill in light of this disruption to the start of their holiday and thank them for their patience and understanding. The flight departed Manchester for Sal, Cape Verde at 2.30pm today." The spokesperson said the aircraft only diverted to Manchester as that was where the replacement jet was parked insisted it wasn't an emergency landing 'by any means'.
Last month the MEN reported how a major emergency response at Manchester Airport tonight ahead of an easyJet flight's landing. Blue light services rushed out to Terminal 1 ahead of flight EZY2016's arrival from Alicante on February 14.
The flight was due to land at 9.10pm. But prior to landing, a technical issue was reported from in connection with the plane's on-board computer. It meant that emergency services had to prepare for the easyJet flight's arrival. It's understood that the police and fire service were called out to support the incident.
Manchester Airport later confirmed the flight landed safely.