TRAVELLERS faced delays and cancelled flights at Aberdeen International Airport yesterday after an air ambulance veered off the runway.
The incident happened when the twin-engined aircraft, carrying a patient bound for Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, developed steering difficulties while taxi-ing and ended up on a section of grass.
Emergency services rushed to the scene just before noon but were not required and no one was injured.
A full investigation into the incident began later in the day.
The airport was closed to all arriving and departing flights for two hours after the alert, with several flights diverted to Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Hundreds of passengers were forced to wait for hours in the check-in area to find out if their flight would eventually take off or they would be booked on to another departure.
A spokeswoman for Farnborough-based Gama Aviation said the Beechcraft King Air 200 aircraft “undertook a normal landing” and was carrying two crew members, a paramedic, the patient and a patient escort.
An ambulance was waiting for the aircraft and transferred the patient to ARI as planned.
Pupils from Lossiemouth High School were on their way to Botswana yesterday for a 10-day educational trip and were among the travellers waiting in the airport.
The 10 pupils and three adults were due to begin their journey to South Africa on Wednesday but the slot for their original flight to Paris was missed and the airline paid for taxis to take everyone back to Elgin for the night.
Melanie Reed, a teacher at the school, said the group heard about the incident at Aberdeen when they were on their way to the airport yesterday.
Her husband, Andy, was also with the group and said at the time: “We have been told that there was an incident on the airfield and just to check in at our normal time.
“The airport should be open again in two hours but it would have been great to get an estimation of how long it would take to get everybody through to departures.
“We only have a 10-day trip to Gaborone and we have already lost a day.
“Another group from the school are already there, having arrived on Wednesday.”
Offshore worker David Dean said: “I checked in for a flight to Scatsta at 10.50am then I was told it was delayed for 20 minutes and then the incident happened.
“You begin to expect delays and we get fogged in all the time because of the weather – it happened yesterday.
“I travelled up from Teesside so stayed in a hotel last night.”
The runway reopened before 3pm and flights resumed, but many travellers will have to return to the airport today after their flights were cancelled.
The first of 32-year-old Mary Nairn’s flights to get to Missoula, Montana, was cancelled yesterday.
She said: “I have been waiting at the airport for about three-and-a-half hours but I’m due to go away for a few months, so a delay by one day is not so bad.
“I was really looking forward to seeing my husband, who is already out there, as I have not seen him for two-and-a-half months.”
Airport staff were already expecting a busy day today due to extra charter flights being scheduled for the school holidays.
Airport spokeswoman Sarah Campbell said after the incident: “All arrivals and departures have been suspended while we make sure the aircraft is safe and to get the runway clear.
“We are expecting flights to be suspended until 2pm.”
A spokeswoman for Gama Aviation said: “At 11.49 local time a Beechcraft King Air 200 aircraft operated on behalf of the Scottish Air Ambulance by Gama Aviation Ltd, undertook a normal landing at Aberdeen Airport, following a routine patient transfer from Lerwick.
“Whilst entering the taxiway, the aircraft experienced steering difficulties and departed the runway on to the grass.
“There was no damage to the aircraft.
“Gama Aviation is now undertaking a full investigation.”