A British Airways flight was held on the runaway for two hours after the aircraft was apparently “damaged” by a traffic cone.
Passengers on board the flight from Aberdeen to London on Thursday evening were told the plane could not take off after a rogue traffic cone became wedged beneath the aircraft.
Engineers said they could not inspect the damage until all passengers and their luggage disembarked and reduced the weight of the aeroplane.
Joe Churcher, whose girlfriend was on the flight, live tweeted the incident and reported the pilot had “never seen anything like it”.
A passenger on the flight, Claire Buckley, said the captain had “sounded genuinely stunned” that it could have happened as he updated them on the situation.
They were eventually told the “skin” of the aircraft had not been pierced and the dent in the cone had “popped back out” as the weight of the aeroplane was removed.
Passengers were told the extra weight pushed the fuselage down onto it.
The flight was later cleared for takeover - but the airport’s ground crew were “taking no chances” and a staff member was spotted “standing guard” over the cone as passengers got back on the plane.
The aeroplane landed safely in London without further incident.
A spokeswoman for British Airways said: "The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority.
"Our highly-trained engineers inspected the aircraft before it continued on its journey.
"We are sorry for the delay to customers' travel plans."
Additional reporting by PA
