Aer Lingus: Plane had serious incident during Belfast landing - report

An Aer Lingus flight to Belfast had a serious incident during landing when it suffered a partial electrical systems failure, a report has found. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said a number of systems dropped off-line, including some needed for landing. The pilots experienced "natural effects of startle and surprise... without a specified procedure to follow", investigators said. The plane was carrying 32 passengers and four crew. Emerald Airlines, exclusive operator of Aer Lingus Regional services, said the flight had "experienced an unforeseen technical difficulty" during its approach and had landed safely at Belfast City Airport. The ATR 72-600 began 19 September 2022 with a flight from Belfast City Airport to Leeds Bradford Airport. While approaching Leeds Bradford, a master caution message appeared very briefly. The message reappeared after touchdown. The flight commander discussed the fault with an engineer who advised "the underlying cause could be difficult to establish". "Therefore, given the transient, asymptomatic nature of the master cautions and the absence of company engineering support in Leeds, they agreed the crew would operate the aircraft back to Belfast for company engineers to investigate further," the report stated. The same master caution message occurred on the return flight to Belfast before "multiple failures appeared on the engine warning display" during descent. Story has more.<br/>