Leeds Bradford Airport reopens after runway excursion by Tui holiday jet

Leeds Bradford Airport has reopened after a Tui jet landing at the airport yesterday overshot the runway yesterday whilst landing during storm Babet.

The flight was bringing 195 passengers and crew back from Corfu and suffered a runway excursion after it was believed to have aquaplaned during heavy rain. All on board disembarked the aircraft and there were no injuries reported. 

More than twenty other flights have either been cancelled, delayed or diverted, with some aircraft going to Manchester, Liverpool and Teesside.  Whilst the airport said there would continue to be some disruption to services, many later flights will operate as normal. 

In a statement, the airport said: "We want to express our sincere gratitude to everyone involved in supporting the effort dealing with the incident, disruption and recovery of the aircraft in exceptionally difficult conditions.

"Once again, we would like to thank our passengers for their cooperation and understanding during this challenging period"

An investigation into the incident is now underway according to the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the Boeing 737 jet has been towed away from its temporary resting place with some damage reported to the left undercarriage and engine cowlings. 

Tui jet skids off runway at Leeds Bradford

Leeds Bradford Airport had been forced to close on Friday after a Tui jet skidded off the runway after landing due to stormy weather.

The TUI flight TOM3551 from Corfu landed at the airport during storm Babet and came off the runway, sliding onto the grass and getting stuck.  A spokesperson for the airport said:  "We can confirm there are no reported injuries from this incident and that all passengers have now safely disembarked the aircraft. The airport is now closed.  We are working with the airline, relevant operations teams and emergency authorities to resolve this situation and return services safely as quickly as possible."

The airport has been closed and incoming flights were diverted to various other airports, including Birmingham, Luton and Manchester. The airport has advised passengers due to depart the airport today and tomorrow to contact their airlines to check on the status of their flights. 

According to some eyewitnesses, the aircraft performed a hard landing and started to skid or aquaplane almost immediately before coming to a rest on the grass.  

The airport's emergency services responded and surrounded the stricken jet within minutes and checked the safety of the situation before passengers were taken off the jet approximately 50 minutes after landing. 

Earlier a TUI UK&I spokesperson commented: "We are aware of an incident at Leeds Bradford Airport this afternoon during the landing of flight TOM3551."There are no reported injuries, and our ground team are on hand to support passengers as they disembark."