Plane blown off airport runway on Scottish island

Believed one of the wheels collapsed during heavy winds

The military aircraft made an emergency landing at Stornoway Airport on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland (Creative Commons)

A plane has been blown off the runway at Stornaway airport on the Isle of Lewis.

An outbound aircraft Saab 340, operated by Loganair, veered off the runway during its ascent at 8.33am this morning. It is believed that a wheel of the plane collapsed during heavy winds.

The Met Office warns that the Scottish island can expected "strong to gale force westerly winds" and "severe gale gusts" today.

A spokesperson for Stormaway airport told The Independent: "There were two minor injuries involving passengers. Efforts to remove the aircraft from the runway are ongoing and investigations into the cause of the incident are underway.

“It is it our intention to resume normal operations as soon as the aircraft is safely removed from the runway. There are no scheduled arrivals or departures at Stornaway until later this afternoon.”

The Scottish airport, opened in 1937, is located off the north-west coast and was originally used mostly for RAF aircraft until 1988 when NATO adopted it as a forward operating base.

It is still used by NATO for stopovers on missions over the North Atlantic en route to Greenland and the United States.

It is now mainly used for domestic passenger services.

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