UK airport closed after plane catches fire on runway
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Norwich Airport was shut down on Friday morning, August 8, after a light aircraft caught fire on the runway during take-off, causing major disruptions to flight schedules.
The incident, which occurred at around 8:30am, involved a small fire in the aircraft’s engine. The runway remains closed and is expected to reopen by 12:30pm. Passengers are being advised to check with their airlines before heading to the airport.
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 services quickly responded to the scene, although both the East of England Ambulance Service and Norfolk Constabulary were later stood down. The ambulance service confirmed there were no injuries reported.
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 concern, emergency crews on-site described the situation as “nothing major.”
Flight operations have been affected, with one KLM flight to Amsterdam, originally scheduled for 9:40am, cancelled, and a Loganair flight to Aberdeen delayed by nearly three hours, now expected to depart at 11:30am.
On the arrivals board, a KLM flight from Amsterdam due at 9:05am was cancelled, while a TUI flight from Corfu has been delayed by approximately 15 minutes, now scheduled to land at 1:26pm instead of 1:10pm.
The remaining seven scheduled departures and arrivals are currently expected to proceed without further delays.
This incident comes weeks after a similar emergency landing at Birmingham Airport caused significant delays and cancellations.
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