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Incident at Birmingham International Airport

15th June 2006 A freight plane has made an emergency crash landing at Birmingham International Airport after developing problems with its undercarriage.

Flights at Birmingham have been disrupted, but passengers are being advised to turn up to check in.

Most services into the airport have been diverted to Nottingham East Midlands Airport or Coventry Airport or have been cancelled.

It is believed the aeroplane will not be cleared from the runway until Thursday evening.

Birmingham Airport have published the following statement on their website:

"We can confirm that an incident has occurred involving a TNT aircraft. The Boeing 737-300 aircraft, originally on route from Liege to Stansted Airport, was initially diverted to Nottingham East Midlands Airport due to problems with visibility at Stansted.

The pilot subsequently became aware of problems with the Aircraft undercarriage. This resulted in the Aircraft diverting to Birmingham and the Pilot declaring an emergency.

At 06:06, the aircraft landed. In line with operational procedures foam was used as a precautionary measure – no fire occurred.

There were two crew members on board and no passengers. No-one was injured.

As the aircraft is currently positioned on the runway, only a very limited operation can take place. The Air Accident Investigation Board is on site.

A shorter length of runway is available, which means that the airport can provide a limited service to airlines that use smaller aircraft. Other airlines will be making alternative arrangements for passengers.

Passengers should check-in as usual for departing flights. Some aircraft have been diverted to other UK airports, and airlines will be making alternative arrangements for passengers."

No further information is available at the moment.

Related Links:
www.bhx.co.uk/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/5082200.stm

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