Connacht Rugby flight technical issues causes Belfast International Airport emergency

By Adam Evans

Belfast International Airport has dealt with an emergency situation after a technical issue on board Connacht Rugby's flight to Knock

Q Radio understands the team were on board the Flybe plane from Birmingham which had to be diverted this morning.

Flight BE653 took off at 1036 and landed safely this afternoon.

Connacht's Bundee Aki took to Twitter to complain about the situation:

Pilot miss judges the landing for Knock airport(for whatever reason), then decides to miss Shannon/Dublin and land in Belfast. Yay 5 hour bus drive 😡😡

— Bundee Aki (@bundeeaki12) January 14, 2018

In a statement a spokesperson for Flybe told Q Radio: "Flybe can confirm that the captain of the above flight took the recommended action following a suspected technical fault during the above flight from Birmingham to Ireland West Airport Knock and, as an additional precautionary measure, elected to divert to Belfast International where the aircraft landed safely without incident. 

"As is usual in such circumstances, the airport put its emergency vehicles on standby.  All 62 passengers disembarked as normal when the aircraft arrived on stand following which they were transported by road to their destination. 

"The safety of its passengers and crew is the airline’s number one priority and Flybe sincerely apologises for any inconvenience experienced."

Connacht were in Worcester last night where a 24-24 draw secured their place in the European Challenge Cup quarter finals.

A spokesperson for Belfast International said the flight "declared a full emergency and diverted to Belfast International due to a technical problem.

"Full emergency procedures were activated and the plane landed safely.

"The passengers are being transported to Knock by bus."