A Loganair flight from Sumburgh Airport in the Shetland Islands to Glasgow had to return to the airport shortly after takeoff after suffering a bird strike on Friday.
The flight LM438 had 40 passengers and three crew onboard at the time of the incident which took place when the aircraft was climbing and had only reached 1,500ft. Some passengers on the Saab2000 said they heard a loud bang, then smelt a smell akin to burning fuel just moments after the aircraft had left the runway.
Passengers on board the flight reported hearing a bang and smelling fuel moments after the aircraft left the runway.
Mia Sutherland, 15, told the BBC "Just when we were levelling out there was a bang followed by a short outburst of flames and then a horrible fuelly smell came into where the passengers were, everyone was panicking and going 'what was that?'".
"Everyone was looking out windows and probably about 10 or 15 minutes later the pilot came on and said that we were going back to Sumburgh because of a technical fault and then when we got back they said they had hit a bird."
In a statement, Loganair said that "Safety is always our first priority, and as always, our pilots responded immediately and appropriately to the warning that they received on the flight deck following the bird strike - an eventuality for which every pilot is extensively trained.
"The aircraft made a normal landing back at Sumburgh and our customers were able to disembark as they normally would. We arranged hotel accommodation overnight and a replacement flight at the earliest possible opportunity, and we'd like to offer our sincere apologies for this disruption to our customers' journeys."
Passengers were not able to complete their journey on Friday night as the airport was closed overnight, however, they were able to fly to Glasgow on Saturday morning on an alternative aircraft.
(Photos Loganair)
