Jet2: Flight from Leeds Bradford Airport to Lanzarote forced to emergency land after take-off due to 'bird strike'

A Jet2 plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Manchester Airport today due to a “bird strike”. Flight Emergency posted on X, formerly Twitter, at around 11.15am that the Jet2 flight LS217 from Leeds Bradford Airport to Lanzarote had raised the emergency 7700 squawking code.

In an update 10 minutes later it posted on X that the “flight has suffered a bird strike on the climb out of Leeds…” adding the aircraft is “diverting to Manchester”. Flight Emergency added: “Flight deck reporting left engine vibrations after bird strike.”

A user responded to the post questioning why the aircraft “couldn’t just land at Leeds”. Flight Emergency said on X that it was due to “heavy landing” and Manchester is a “better option” due to the “length of the runway”. 

The aircraft is a Boeing 737 jet - a firm which has been under much scrutiny since the window blowout incident. The incident occurred on 5 January and saw a door plug blow out of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet shortly after take off. The Federal Aviation Administration promptly ordered the grounded of this fleet of aircraft but they are now back in service despite continued safety concerns. 

This month a flight bound for Japan from the US was forced to make an emergency landing after a wheel fell off of the aircraft. The United Airlines flight, which left San Francisco International Airport at around 11.24am local time, was caught on camera as a wheel dropped from the Boeing 777 during the take-off. The wheel fell to the ground below, crushing and hitting several cars in an employee car park at the airport. 

A Jet2 spokesperson said: “Flight LS217 from Leeds Bradford to Lanzarote followed procedure and diverted to Manchester as a precautionary measure due to a suspected bird strike. After landing safely, the aircraft taxied to stand as normal and we are transferring customers onto a replacement aircraft which will fly them to enjoy their well-deserved holidays in Lanzarote.”