Flights on hold at Birmingham Airport due to 'incident with a light aircraft'

Three people from the aircraft were treated at the scene with one suffering minor injuries from the incident, which occurred at around 1.40pm on Wednesday, West Midlands Police said.

Other emergency services including West Midlands Ambulance Service have also attended the scene.

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Footage and images shared on social media appeared to show a small white plane lying flat on the airport tarmac.

Some flights diverting and passengers are being urged to check with their airline before travel.

The runway is expected to be closed until 6pm tonight (Wednesday).

“Following an aircraft incident, the runway is temporarily closed,” the airport said in a statement on X posted shortly after 2.40pm on Wednesday.

“We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause.

“We will keep passengers already at the airport informed and those due to travel later today are advised to check the status of their flight before coming to the airport.

“We will continue to issue updates when we can.”

West Midlands Police said one person had suffered minor injuries after a small aircraft made an emergency landing at Birmingham Airport.

In a post on the Birmingham Airport Police X account, the force said: “We are at Birmingham Airport this afternoon after a small aircraft was involved in an emergency landing at around 1.40pm.

“Officers are among the emergency crews at the scene and one person has been reported to have minor injuries.

“The Civil Aviation Authority has been informed and the airport has suspended operations as an investigation is carried out.”

They say all persons aboard the aircraft have been discharged by West Midlands Ambulance Service but check in and security are temporarily closed.

They said they would continue to issue updates when they can.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said in a statement: “We were called at 1.45pm to an incident involving a light aircraft at Birmingham Airport.

“Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) paramedics and three paramedic officers were sent to the scene.

“Upon arrival we found three patients from the aircraft, all of whom were assessed and discharged at the scene.”

West Midlands Fire Service said that two crews remained on standby to support airport firefighters, with one of the crews remaining at the scene. 

A West Midlands Fire Service spokesperson said: " Shortly after 1.40pm we responded to an incident involving a light aircraft at Birmingham Airport. 

"Two crews stood by to support airport firefighters. Three people were assessed by paramedics. One fire crew remains on scene."

Camile Monteleone, a visual merchandiser, was meant to fly home to Barcelona on Wednesday evening after working in the UK for three days, but does not know if her flight from Birmingham Airport is cancelled.

The 30-year-old said: “I don’t have any news. I’m like ‘what is going on’. It does not say anything on the Ryanair app about the flight.

“I’m just waiting for information. I have to let people know I’m here, stuck at the airport. I cannot do anything else.”

Gunnar Lauridsen, a 76-year-old from Denmark who has been on holiday playing golf, said he will most likely miss his connecting flight because of the closed runway at Birmingham Airport.

He said: “We are ultimately going to Billund in Denmark. This delay probably means we can’t get our connection. So that means that we will be staying probably in Amsterdam overnight.

“I should have been to the doctors tomorrow morning. When you travel things happen.”

He said he has been given a new flight time nearly two hours after he was meant to take off from the airport.

Paul, aged 62, and his 55-year-old wife Corinne, who did not give their surnames, travelled to Wales for six days from Zurich to visit their niece and said the delay to their flight home is “annoying”.

Corinne said: “I just hope we get back tonight because he has a very important business appointment tomorrow.

“I’m just surprised it’s been three hours (since the emergency landing) and they closed everything.”

Paul said: “It’s definitely a little bit annoying, certainly when things don’t go to plan. It would be nice if we had more information.”

The couple said they have been given a new flight time for later this evening.

Haley, who did not want to give her surname, is waiting to get a flight to Mallorca and said she was told by airline Tui to check-in as normal but has since been told she cannot go inside Birmingham Airport.

The 42-year-old said: “It’s taken the shine off a bit. It’s not too bad at the minute. We’re trying to stay positive.

“Tui told us to check-in as normal, but we’ve got here and been told we can’t go inside the building. We’ve just been told they’re moving people to the NEC.

“Hopefully this doesn’t take too long, this has a knock-on effect.”

Faye Melhuish, who arrived home from a holiday in Spain with her six-month-old daughter, said her plane could not land at Birmingham Airport and had to be diverted.

The 38-year-old said: “We flew from Spain and we were due to land here at 2.20pm. Then, in the air we were circling to see if we could land.

“The captain basically said we are going to have to go to East Midlands (Airport).”

Ms Melhuish said she had to wait for around an hour for a coach to bring her back to Birmingham Airport.

She said: “It could have been a lot worse. We were worried we were going to end up sitting on the runway at East Midlands.”

Speaking about her daughter, Ms Melhuish said: “It’s her first time on a plane and her first time on a coach.”

Flights will remain grounded at Birmingham Airport until at least 8pm after a small aircraft made an emergency landing.

In an update posted on X, the airport said: “Following an aircraft incident that occurred this afternoon, operations are expected to remain suspended until at least 8pm.

“Passengers at the airport are advised to speak to their airline for further information. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.”

Woodgate Aviation said one of its Beechcraft fixed-wing aircraft was involved in an emergency landing at Birmingham Airport on Wednesday.

It said in a statement: “The turbo-prop aircraft was on a flight to Belfast International Airport when it developed landing gear problems. The aircraft returned to Birmingham and made an emergency landing and the main under-carriage collapsed on touch down.

“Two crew members and a passenger were on board but were uninjured.

“The aircraft remains on the runway and Woodgate Aviation will be co-operating fully with Air Accident investigators and airport services.

“We would like to pay tribute to the professionalism of our colleagues and the emergency services at the airport for their prompt action.”