Stansted Airport: Eight injured after 'huge bang' leads plane to abort take-off

'A scary experience for sure', says passenger

Passengers heard a “huge bang” before their plane “skidded to a stop” during an aborted take-off at Stansted Airport.

Eight people were injured and flights were temporarily suspended from the London airport as a result.

The Vienna-bound Laudamotion flight came to a stop on the runway shortly after 8pm on Friday.

An airport statement said the plane had a suspected engine problem and all passengers were safely evacuated and taken to the terminal.

One man, who said he was on the plane, posted on Twitter: “Mid take off at Stansted, our plane had a huge bang, skidded to a stop and all had to evacuate down the slides, with my friend opening the emergency door. A scary experience for sure.”

Stansted Airport tweeted: “Flights at STN-Airport are currently suspended due to an aircraft on the runway following an aborted take off due to a suspected engine problem.

“We will post further updates as soon as they become available. Thank you.”

Passenger Thomas Steer said some people were injured in the escape. He added: “The fire brigade treated them. No one was seriously injured, just minor things.”

The airport added: “Emergency service attended and all passengers were evacuated from the aircraft as a precaution and have now been taken back to the terminal.”

Footage posted to social media by delayed passengers showed several people standing on grass by the runway as emergency service crews and flashing lights surrounded the plane.

Flights to Stansted were diverted to other airports.

Stansted later tweeted: “Our runway has now reopened and is fully operational. We are extremely sorry for the disruption caused by the incident, but our first priority is always the safety of passengers and staff.”

Laudamotion later tweeted: “The crew of OE flight from Stansted to Vienna (1.3.) decided to abort the take off due to engine issues and to disembark the passengers on the runway as a precautionary measure.

“Passengers were transferred to the terminal by bus and will be reaccommodated onto a replacement flight.”

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it was sending a team to Stansted to investigate the incident.