Summary
- TUI Boeing 737-800 veered off the runway at Leeds Bradford Airport, closing down the airport’s sole runway.
- The airport’s METAR showed light rain and mist with strong wind speeds during landing.
- Aircraft abandoned one approach before the excursion.
A TUI Boeing 737-800 has suffered a runway excursion at Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA), closing down the airport’s sole runway. According to Flightradar24 data, the aircraft, registered as G-TAWD, was operating flight BY3551 from Corfu International Airport (CFU), when it veered off the runway upon landing at the British Airport.
Diversions from LBA
The TUI Boeing 737-800 landed at LBA at 13:53 local time (UTC +1) after a three-hour and six-minute flight from the Greek island. The Meteorological Aerodrome Report (METAR) for the airport showed light rain and mist, with wind speeds of up to 17 knots and gusts of 32 knots at 13:50 local time (UTC +1). Prior to landing at LBA, the aircraft abandoned one approach, turning back for another attempt before suffering the landing excursion.
Photo: Flightradar24
One passenger, who was onboard the aircraft, shared a picture of the aircraft being stuck in the grass from inside the cabin on X, formerly known as Twitter.
A Ryanair Boeing 737-800, flying from Poznan Lawica Airport (POZ) landed at the airport at 13:41 local time (UTC +1), yet several prior flights, including three Ryanair flights, had to divert to Manchester Airport (MAN). Meanwhile, one Embraer Phenom 300 private jet, operated by NetJets, made its first attempt to land at the airport at 11:29 local time, circling around Leeds until 12:50 local time, before the aircraft finally diverted to Farnborough Airport (FAB) some 40 minutes later.
A Jet2 Boeing 737-800, registered as G-JZBH, flying from Malaga Costa Del Sol Airport (AGP), and an easyJet Airbus A319 originating in Belfast International Airport (BFS), had to divert to MAN. Meanwhile, another Jet2 Boeing 737-800, flying from Faro International Airport (FAO), was seen turning away from LBA on Flightradar24. Several other Jet2 flights are inbound to the airport at the time of writing.
Departure delays
Flightradar24 data also showed that more than a dozen flights scheduled to depart from LBA have been significantly delayed. The last flight to depart from LBA was Ryanair flight FR3579 to Paris Beauvais-Tille Airport (BVA), which arrived at the French airport at 15:01 local time (UTC +2). Another picture, shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed emergency vehicles attending to the scene of the excursion, with the Boeing 737-800 having veered off the runway.
The TUI group, which operates several airlines for its holiday and charter flights, expected a busy winter season. The company said that the “current booking trends underlining the strong consumer demand in the current macro-economic environment and the popularity of our product offering.” In the United Kingdom (UK), the group said that positive momentum continues into the winter season, with overall bookings up 15% compared to last year’s winter season.