Flights were diverted from a UK airport after an aircraft hit “multiple geese” this evening. Operations teams had to shut down the 23R runway at Manchester Airport after a Ryanair flight struck the birds on its approach into the city.
A clean up operation meant the runway had to be closed for around 20 minutes after the aircraft landed. Due to the closure, four flights had to divert to Liverpool and Birmingham.
As reported by the Manchester Evening News, it is understood this was due to the amount of fuel left in the planes, and both take offs and landings had to operate from one runway for a short period. Multiple other flights were seen circling over Manchester and Lancashire during the incident, which closed the runway temporarily from 7.11pm to around 7.32pm.
EasyJet flight EZY7851 from Amsterdam, due to land in Manchester on Monday night, was seen on flight paths flying over Rochdale. It then circled over Lancashire and diverted to Liverpool John Lennon at around 7.37pm before touching down at 7.52pm.
British Airways service BA1402 from London to Manchester also had to divert to Birmingham. Flight paths showed the plane circling repeatedly over the Peak District before pilots instead decided to land in the Midlands.
In another incident, Jet2 flight LS852 from Funchal was seen circling multiple times over Stockport and the Peak District before also diverting to Liverpool, landing at 7.36pm. A fourth, another Jet2 flight, LS938, also diverted from Paphos in Cyprus to Liverpool, landing at around 8pm.
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport confirmed the runway was closed for a short period for the aircraft to be inspected and clean up operations to be carried out.