British Airways jet makes rough landing at London City Airport

February 14, 2009

A BA CityFlyer Avro 146-RJ100 passenger jet with 71 people onboard made a crash-landing at London City Airport on Friday evening, after part of its gear failed upon landing. One passenger was hospitalised after the incident.

According to witnesses, the aeroplane's front landing gear collapsed into the runway after the aircraft made a rough landing. The plane stopped on the runway, after which the 67 passengers and four crew members were evacuated by the use of emergency chutes.

Following the incident, the airport's only runway was shut down and incoming flights diverted to other airports in the vicinity.

"Unfortunately, one passenger sustained a minor injury and is currently on the way to hospital. There was one other minor injury," British Airways said in a statement. "We don't know the nature of the injury or how it was caused yet. Our priority at the moment is to ensure all the passengers involved in the incident are well cared for by our ground staff."

Justin Fletcher, a passenger onboard the aeroplane, described what happened in an interview with the BBC: "There was obviously quite a loud bang as the plane scratched in, the stewards and stewardesses were quick to evacuate everyone off, there was a few scrapes and cuts due to hitting the asphalt, all in all everyone seems to be doing quite well now."

London City Airport is located in the eastern part of London, and is mainly used for domestic and European flights. It handles 80 000 flights and three million passengers a year.