Passengers on Paris to Cardiff plane evacuated and flights diverted to other airports after crew report fault

Haroon Siddique

An emergency landing of a plane en route to Cardiff closed a runway at Gatwick airport this morning.

Flybe flight BE1432 flying from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris was diverted to the West Sussex airport after the crew reported a technical fault, with reports suggesting smoke on the aircraft.

The airport’s fire and ambulance services were deployed “as a precautionary measure” but no one was injured, according to a Gatwick spokesman who said the passengers were able “to exit down the steps in the normal way”. The Dash 8 plane, carrying 46 passengers and four crew made the emergency landing at 12.25am. The runway reopened just before 1pm, after the plane was moved.

Eleven flights due to land at Gatwick were diverted to other airports, while another 15 were put in waiting-to-land “stacking” positions.

“Three other flights have been held on the ground,” the Gatwick spokesman said. “This is a busy day but it’s not our most busy of the summer. We’re hoping that delays will be kept to a minimum.”

A Flybe spokeswoman said alternative travel arrangements were being made to transport the passengers to Cardiff as soon as possible.

The Bombardier Dash 8 is a twin engined medium range turboprop aircraft. In February a Continental Airlines Dash 8 Q400 crashed into a house in suburban Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 passengers. In 2007, Scandinavian airlines, SAS, removed its Dash 8 Q400 type aircraft from service permanently after three safety scares in two months. The company cited “diminished” confidence and customer doubts.