2 days Ago By [email protected] (Lisa Letcher)
An Eastern Airways flight from London to Newquay diverted away from the county after a warning light came on in the cockpit. The flight, originally from London Gatwick to Cornwall Airport Newquay, ended up circling back on itself last night (Tuesday, April 15). It ultimately landed at Exeter Airport as a precaution due to strong winds in .
Flight EZE58LN originally had a scheduled departure time from the capital at 6.50pm. It didn't end up leaving London until 7.
59pm, according to FlightRadar. At some point during the flight was "squawking 7700" - an aviation code that indicates an emergency and alerts air traffic control to its need for assistance. Flight Emergency Alerts, which posts Tweets about aviation emergencies, from general ones to hijackings, said: " is squawking 7700 (General Emergency).
" It said this occurred at 7.48pm. According to the flight path, the plane made it as far as St Columb Major before turning around and flying to Exeter Airport instead.
It was later confirmed that a precautionary diversion was made due to an issue with its flap configuration - the position of an aircraft's wing flaps, which are hinged surfaces on the trailing edge of the wing that increase lift and drag - and all passengers were returned to the airport in Newquay by road. A spokesperson for Eastern Airways said: "A scheduled service operated by Eastern Airways as the T3 458 from London Gatwick Airport to Newquay airport had to make a precautionary diversion into Exeter Airport last night. During the approach into on one of our ATR 72-600s, a cockpit warning light illuminated for a flap configuration issue.
"Due to the strong and gusting winds at , a decision was made to land at Exeter Airport instead where the wind was not as strong. When the aircraft flew towards Exeter Airport the warning light extinguished, and the aircraft made a normal and safe landing. The passengers were then transported by road to Newquay whilst the aircraft underwent engineering checks as a precaution.
"The aircraft will not be released back into service until the cause of the spurious warning light has been identified. We would like to apologise to our customers who were affected by this diversion but reassure everyone that safety is always our top priority at Eastern Airways.".
