Was there an Emergency Landing at LGW around 4pm today?
Was there an Emergency Landing at LGW around 4pm today?
I was sitting in the garden in Holmbury St. Mary, Surrey (on the North downs - not far from OCK) at this time when a plane - possibly a 757 or 767 - flew over very low (I estimate no more than 2,500 ft) in a sharp bank and descent to take it down to LGW. I followed its 180 degree turn and its descent for as long as I could - but I can't see Gatwick landings from my garden. It looked very unlikely that the pilot would manage to line up with the LGW runway given where he was in the sky.
Couldn't tell airline markings - I think the aircraft had a dark underbelly (possibly grey?). I also thought that one of the engines was producing a fine line of bit of black smoke and the other wasn't - although it didn't appear serious.
Everybody was rather taken aback by the low level of this plane - we are used to getting a lot of traffic stacking for LHR, plus plenty of high level transit traffic. We don't normally get LGW approaches - the LGW approach traffic is visible in the far distance. This plane must have joined the final approach to LGW with a few feet to spare.
I must admit that the women and children in the garden were all rather scared, and I jumped up to follow the plane's progress - something was definitely wrong.
Anyone know any more?