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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Ryan Smith

Storm Brendan flight pilot praised for "miraculous" landing in Belfast

The pilot of a Belfast-bound plane that successfully landed after two failed attempts has been praised for his "miraculous" actions.

Storm Brendan battered Northern Ireland throughout Monday with disruption across transport networks.

And an Aer Lingus flight from London Heathrow to Belfast City Airport had to abort landing twice before it successfully landed at Belfast International.

A passenger on board the 11.05am flight has heaped praise on the actions of the pilot in ensuring the plane arrived safely.

Dwaine Vance, who lives in Crumlin, said: "The talent and skills of the Aer Lingus pilot are nothing short of miraculous. You know it was a scary flight when people take out their phones to make calls, and people are openly sobbing on the flight."

He told Belfast Live that the flight attempted to land at Belfast City Airport twice before diverting to the International.

He said: "Pilots don’t get enough credit of their hard work. As a frequent flyer I can become immune to their hard work and effort. However, today’s events made me think and appreciate about the highly skilled job that they do on a daily basis throughout the world

"I often eye-roll in despair when people clap at the plane lands, however as soon as we touched down as Aldergrove after two failed attempts at City airport I participated in some happy clapping.

"Some people were shook. A young foreign lady called her friend and said in her native tongue that “she was going to die”. Another lady visiting from London with her husband started to cry loudly.

"I was petrified at the second failed attempt at landing but relieved when the pilot said we were going to land at the south west runway in Aldergrove instead."

For more of today's top stories in Belfast and beyond, click here.

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