- The terrifying incident caused the plane to veer off the taxiway in Keflavik, Iceland
An easyJet flight skidded off the runway while landing in bad weather after a flight from Gatwick to Iceland.
In the terrifying incident, the plane veered off the taxiway and skidded onto a berm in Keflavik, Iceland.
Passengers were able to disembark, but the aircraft was taken out of service as an investigation into the incident was launched.
EasyJet blamed bad weather for the plane skidding off the runway.
The airline said: ‘We can confirm that flight EZY8843 from London Gatwick to Keflavik left the taxiway on January 14 while taxiing to its stand at low speed. All passengers disembarked normally.”
In the terrifying incident, the plane veered off the taxiway and skidded onto a berm in Keflavik, Iceland. EasyJet blamed the incident on bad weather (file image of an easyJet Airbus A320-214)
“We have made every effort to minimize delays for passengers returning to Britain and have arranged for a replacement aircraft to operate the flight back to London Gatwick,” an easyJet spokesperson added .
‘We would like to apologize to customers for any inconvenience caused.’
It comes after an easyJet passenger plane carrying 179 people came within just 54 meters of another flight as it tried to land in Bordeaux two weeks ago after a controller ‘forgot’ a plane was already on the runway, a report said.
The Airbus A320, en route from London Gatwick, was preparing to arrive at Bordeaux-Mérignac airport on New Year’s Eve last year when an air traffic control error allowed it to land while another plane was preparing to take off .
A French investigative body has deemed the encounter a “serious accident.” They monitored ATC that the smaller DR400 was on the runway while they cleared the 123-foot A320, weighing up to 172 tons, to land on the same strip.
It was because ‘the team leader… had reduced the number of inspectors from six to three on the day of the near miss, an investigation report said. report has been completed by BEA.
Just seven seconds after telling the easyJet flight it was safe to land, a controller instructed them to abort the approach; the plane was now only 40 meters above the ground.
The report mentioned a number of contributions factors allowing the near-disaster to unfold, including a “significant reduction in staffing levels” that left one controller managing four stations simultaneously “which could potentially lead to oversight.”
The image shared by the BEA shows the plane descending while the DR400 is still on the tarmac
The investigation concluded that the DR400 pilot’s “awareness and proactive action,” intercepting communications and alerting ATC, prevented the error from becoming a potentially devastating accident.
A shocking photo in the BEA report showed the approach of the huge A320 aircraft while the DR400 was still on the runway.
EasyJet told MailOnline at the time: ‘We are aware of the report of the ATC error, which confirms that our pilots followed procedures at all times.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is always our top priority and we will always cooperate with safety investigations.”