Flights forced to divert from Manchester Airport after aircraft hits 'multiple geese'

Flights were diverted after Manchester Airport was forced to close one of its runways on Monday evening (October 7).

Operations teams had to shut down the 23R runway after a Ryanair flight had reportedly 'struck multiple geese' on its approach into Manchester. After landing, a clean up operation meant the runway had to be closed for around 20 minutes.

Due to the closure, four flights due to land in Manchester had to instead divert to Liverpool and Birmingham. It is understood this was due to the amount of fuel left in the aircraft, and because both take offs and landings having to operate from one runway for a short period.

READ MORE First picture of prisoner on the run after treatment at Salford Royal Hospital

Multiple other flights were seen circling over Manchester and Lancashire during the incident, which closed the runway temporarily from 7.11pm to around 7.32pm.

EasyJet flight EZY7851 from Amsterdam, due to land in Manchester on Monday night, was seen on flight paths flying over Rochdale before circling over Lancashire and diverting to Liverpool John Lennon at around 7.37pm before touching down at 7.52pm.

A second flight, British Airways service BA1402 from London to Manchester, instead diverted to Birmingham. Flight paths showed the plane circling repeatedly over the Peak District before pilots instead decided to land in the Midlands.

In another incident, Jet2 flight LS852 from Funchal was seen circling multiple times over Stockport and the Peak District before also diverting to Liverpool, landing at 7.36pm.

A fourth, another Jet2 flight, LS938, also diverted from Paphos in Cyprus to Liverpool, landing at around 8pm.

Manchester Airport confirmed that the runway was closed for a short period for the aircraft to be inspected and clean up operations to be carried out.

The Manchester Evening News previously reported how the airport's specialist team use bird control mitigation operations 24 hours a day to keep the runway path clear of birds for planes to land. Read that here.