Norwich Airport was temporarily shut down on Friday morning, August 8, after a light aircraft caught fire on the runway during take-off, leading to significant disruption to flight schedules.
The incident occurred at around 8:30am when a small fire broke out in the aircraft’s engine.
The runway, which was closed to allow emergency services to respond, is expected to reopen by 12:30pm.
Airport officials have advised passengers to check with their airlines before travelling.
A spokesperson for Norwich Airport confirmed: “We can confirm we are dealing with an incident involving a light aircraft which took place at 08:30 this morning. The runway is currently closed and is expected to reopen at 12:30 today. Passengers due to travel are advised to check with their airline for further details.”
Emergency crews from the fire service, ambulance service, and Norfolk Constabulary attended the scene. Both the East of England Ambulance Service and police were later stood down after it was confirmed that no injuries had been reported.
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An eyewitness told the Eastern Daily Press: “We could tell something was wrong. We heard ‘crash! crash!’ over the radios. We went outside to have a look. The propellers on the plane looked bent. It did not look like there was any landing gear down.”
Despite the initial alarm, emergency teams at the site described the situation as “nothing major.”
The disruption affected several flights. A KLM service to Amsterdam scheduled for 9:40am was cancelled, while a Loganair flight to Aberdeen was delayed by nearly three hours, with departure rescheduled for 11:30am.
On the arrivals side, a KLM flight from Amsterdam due at 9:05am was cancelled, and a TUI flight from Corfu was delayed by about 15 minutes, now expected at 1:26pm instead of 1:10pm.
The other seven scheduled flights for the day are expected to operate without further delays.
This incident comes just weeks after a similar emergency landing at Birmingham Airport caused widespread cancellations and delays.
