A SHIPYARD plane was forced to make an emergency landing after setting off from Walney airfield.
The BAE Systems light aircraft, regularly used to transport company bosses between various BAE sites, took off from Walney airfield yesterday morning to fly to Bristol.
Shortly after take-off, the plane developed problems, understood to be in connection with the flaps, and the pilot requested permission to land again.
However, it is understood the plane was unable to land again at Walney because of the length of the runway.
The aircraft then had to be diverted to BAE's site at Warton in Lancashire, where the plane was met, as is procedure, by emergency service vehicles including firefighters.
A spokeswoman for BAE Systems said: "Yesterday morning a plane conducting a routine flight to Bristol experienced a minor technical issue.
"Ordinary precautions were taken and the plane diverted to Warton. The issue has now been resolved."
Flaps are used to alter the lift characteristics of a wing and are mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed at which the aircraft can be safely flown and to increase the angle of descent for landing. They do this by lowering the stall speed and increasing the drag.
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