Belfast City airport reopens after aircraft suffers nose wheel failure

The emergency incident unfolded at around 4pm on Sunday (22 December) when an Emerald Airlines-operated Aer Lingus flight from Edinburgh came in to land.

The aircraft, a 72-passenger ATR 72-600 turboprop, experienced a hard landing resulting in the nose wheel collapsing sending the aircraft skidding along the runway on its nose.

Images from the scene published by several national news outlets show the aircraft stooped on its nose with no sight of the nose wheel itself.

No passengers were onboard and the four crew escaped unhurt, although the incident resulted in a number of cancellations owing to the runway closure. In total, nearly 40 flights were affected.