A jumbo jet flying from Frankfurt to New York has been forced to make an emergency landing at Manchester airport.
Aircraft enthusiasts who tracked Lufthansa flight LH404 as it made its unplanned approach towards Manchester posted pictures showing it coming into land with its landing gear out as far away as Bury.
The plane, a Boeing 747-800, touched down just after 7pm. It was seen apparently dumping fuel on its way into land and is now reportedly being held on the runway.
Over Preston pic.twitter.com/bT1FvOb4PR
— TheAviationMAN (@TheAviationMAN_) August 7, 2015
The reason for the emergency landing is not yet known, but there were unconfirmed rumours being circulated online that a wheel well had caught fire.
One Twitter user reported: “I can see #LH404 from my window coming in to land at Manchester. Doesn’t look on fire but it’s flying lop-sided … is that normal?”
A Manchester airport spokesperson said: “An aircraft from Frankfurt to New York JFK made a divert into Manchester airport this evening and landed safely with approximately 360 people on board.
“Airport and airline staff will ensure passengers are fully cared for until they can continue with their journey. Anyone wanting further information should contact the airline directly.”
A spokeswoman for Lufthansa said: “There was a technical warning [aboard the plane] and they decided for safety reasons to land in Manchester. When they landed they found it was a wrong technical warning.”
She added that since it was too late for the same crew to continue their shift and too late to send a fresh crew, passengers would spend the night in Manchester before continuing to New York tomorrow.
The plane would be checked for faults, the spokeswoman said.
