Birmingham Airport has temporarily suspended operations after an ‘undeclared item’ found on an Aer Lingus flight forced the plane to make an emergency landing.
According to Daily Mail, the pilot of the Birmingham to Belfast flight declared an emergency around ten minutes after take-off as it passed over the Staffordshire and Shropshire border, flight trackers show.
A bomb squad including four armoured vehicles and specialist officers with sniffer dogs were sent to the runway, where a live stream showed the ATR72-600 plane coming into land.
After the flight landed safely, passengers were seen being led away from the turboprop, which can accommodate between 72 and 76 travellers.
The airline later said in a statement that the item discovered on the flight ‘was not a security risk.’
The incident reportedly caused other flights at the airport to be cancelled and delayed and caused knock-on travel disruption.
The plane was said to be squawking code 7700 as it returned to Birmingham – which signals an emergency of any kind.
The ATR72-600 forms the backbone of the Irish airline’s fleet, which the average age of the aircraft being six years. Flight EAG47S landed at 4.20pm, according to the airport’s website.
It has now reopened, according to police, who said ‘the incident is now being dealt as a false call with very good intent.’
‘All passengers and crew have been evacuated safely and specialist officers including the dog unit have now searched the plane,’ West Midlands Police added.
Aer Lingus said its teams were working to accommodate impacted passengers.