A north-east oil worker has praised the pilot of plane who made a “perfect” emergency landing after the aircraft suffered a suspected mid-air hydraulic leak.
William Robertson was travelling to Aberdeen with colleagues on a Loganair charter flight when it was forced to divert back to Rotterdam Airport.
The Saab 340 twin-engine aircraft was met by emergency services on the runway at the Dutch airport after the pilot told air traffic control about a cockpit warning.
And the drama was not over once they were back on the ground, as the plane began rolling off the runway – forcing the passengers to leap out the emergency exit.
Mr Robertson, from Burghead, said he had noticed an issue as the plane departed and had informed the flight crew as soon as he could.
He said: “During take-off, as the plane was going down the runway there was quite a bit of fluid coming out from beneath the wing.
“I knew that wasn’t right.
“We kind of knew there was something not right by the way the plane was flying.”
The mid-air drama unfolded in the skies above the Netherlands on Wednesday afternoon..
And despite all the emergency vehicles on the runway, Mr Robertson said the pilot made a textbook landing after briefly looping over Rotterdam.
But minutes after touching down the aircraft experienced more technical issues and ended up rolling off the runway.
Mr Robertson, 44, said: “After about a minute or so with the engines still running, the plane just started moving itself.
“He shut off the propellers and announced that we should evacuate the plane.
“The stewardess threw out the door on one side and we all had to jump out.”
He added: “The pilot was fantastic. I can’t praise him enough.
“He brought the plane down in a perfect landing.”
Loganair confirmed yesterday that the flight crew made the decision to return to Rotterdam after a cockpit warning.
A spokesman for the airline added: “The aircraft landed safely at the airport around 4.35pm local time where it was brought to a halt, but subsequently rolled just off the runway due to an issue with the hydraulics.
“All 17 passengers disembarked the aircraft safely, returned to the terminal by bus and a replacement service was dispatched from Glasgow to take them on to Aberdeen.”