Emergency declared as Sumburgh-bound flight diverted

A full-scale emergency was declared at Kirkwall Airport this morning as a plane bound for Shetland reported an "icing" problem.

The Loganair Saab 340 with 25 passengers on board had taken off from Aberdeen at 6.50am and was due to land at Sumburgh at 7.45am.

As the pilot approached Sumburgh he announced that the plane would return to Aberdeen, but then decided to divert to Kirkwall.

Police, fire and ambulance crews were alerted, and the Kirkwall lifeboat was launched.

However the plane landed safely and a replacement was sent out. The passengers eventually arrived in Sumburgh around 1pm. The incident meant that Shetland received no newspapers.

A Loganair engineering team is to carry out a full inspection of the aircraft.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.