TUI flight in emergency landing after take-off at another UK airport

A TUI flight was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after take off because of a bird strike today. TUI flight TOM800 took off from Newcastle International Airport at around 9.40am but touched down at Manchester Airport at 11am as a precaution.

The decision to fly into an emergency landing comes after a bird strike. TUI confirmed today (Wednesday April 24) that crews on the ground at Manchester Airport are understood to have found the plane suffered "some damage" in the incident.

The route from the North East to was flying Cape Verde. A TUI spokesman apologised for the inconvenience and added: "We’d like to apologise to customers on flight TOM800 which diverted to Manchester Airport as a precaution following a bird strike."

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The spokesperson confirmed flight passengers were taken off board and sent to the departure lounge, where they waited before being boarded onto another aircraft to continue the rest of the journey to the sun-kissed holiday hotspot today.

In a statement, TUI went on: "Another TUI aircraft was sourced and the flight has now departed Manchester Airport and is on route to Sal, Cape Verde. We’d like to thank customers for their patience and understanding, and hope they enjoy their holiday.”

Most accidents occur when a bird (or group of birds) collides with the windscreen or is sucked into the engine of jet aircraft. These cause annual damages that have been estimated at $400 million within the United States alone and up to $1.2 billion to commercial aircraft worldwide.

Fire crews were called, as a matter of course for all unscheduled landings, and the plane was found to have sustained some damage, the airport said. TUI is rivalled by the likes of Jet2, which flies from Birmingham Airport, as well as budget airlines like Easyjet and Ryanair.