Plane fire scare for Brummie soldiers
HUNDREDS of British troops were at the centre of a mid-air drama when their flight from the Middle East was grounded due to smoke coming from the brakes.
The aeroplane, which was carrying around 200 soldiers, many from the West Midlands, was landing at Hannover airport in Germany for a scheduled stop when the pilot was alerted to a malfunction with the hydraulics.
On board were dozens of war heroes coming back from Iraq for a well earned 10 day period of rest and recuperation.
But as the huge American-owned airliner touched down in Germany passengers saw three fire engines hurtling towards the landing strip with an ambulance and police cars in tow.
Moments later the pilot came onto the loud speaker and revealed that their had been problems with the hydraulics which meant the landing had been “a little smoky”.
Birmingham Mail reporter, Paul Bradley, who was returning home after a week embedded with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in Iraq, said: “Everyone was in a state of confusion when we arrived.
“We were all looking out of the windows wondering why there were fire engines around the plane and it was true to say there was a few worried faces.
“But we were reassured that none of the passengers were in any danger at any point and it seemed that the fire engines were there rather as a precaution than anything else.”
The flight, which left Qatar on Friday morning and was due back at Brize Norton later that day, finally took off the next day and touched down safely on Saturday morning.
A spokesman for the RAF said: “There was a problem with the hydraulics which meant we had to get a new part flown in from the UK.
“We did every thing we could to get the troops home on Friday but in the end this was not possible.”
* Read Paul Bradley’s report on Birmingham troops serving on the frontline in Basra tomorrow.
