A plane travelling to Belfast City Airport suffered damage during a heavy landing amid “gusty weather”, an investigation has found.
Two unsuccessful attempts were made to land the aircraft, which had been travelling from Edinburgh Airport on December 30 last year and carrying 53 passengers.
A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has found that the plane’s nosewheel tyres suffered damage upon landing, leaving the left axle “slightly bent”.
The investigation stated that adverse weather conditions had caused the heavy landing, with high winds reported.
The report stated that the “left main landing gear and nose landing gear contacted the runway heavily during a second approach to Belfast City Airport in gusty wind conditions”.
No-one was injured.
The pilot later opted to divert to Belfast International Airport. where the plane landed without incident.
“The flight data showed an acceleration of approximately 2.2 g in the normal axis when the aircraft contacted the runway before the go-around.
“The aircraft manufacturer assessed that the left main landing gear and the nose landing gear had both experienced loads beyond their allowable limits and required replacement before the aircraft could be returned into service”.
The report concluded: “The landing gear sustained damage during a heavy touch down after the aircraft became destabilised, due to wind effects experienced during the flare, immediately before touchdown”.
