Flybe Edinburgh to London flight diverted after mid-air emergency declared

The Flybe flight was diverted to Birmingham after experiencing a suspected technical fault in mid-air. Picture: Contributed

Flybe flight BE1331 was scheduled to depart the Capital at 6.25am on Monday morning and expected to arrive at London City Airport at around 8.20am.

However the plane remained grounded until 6.51am and experienced a suspected technical fault while flying over the Midlands.

The plane's captain took the decision to divert the aircraft and perform an emergency landing at Birmingham.

All 56 passengers disembarked the aircraft, which landed safely in Birmingham without further incident.

Emergency vehicles were put on standby as a precautionary measure.

In an official statement, a Flybe spokesperson said: "Flybe can confirm that the captain of the above flight elected to divert to Birmingham this morning due to a suspected technical fault with the aircraft.

"Having taken all necessary action, the aircraft landed safely without further incident and taxi-ed to stand where all 56 passengers disembarked as normal. As is standard procedure, the airport put its emergency vehicles on standby as a precautionary measure.

"The airline fully complied with its Duty of Care and passengers were offered the option of completing their journey by coach or being re-accommodated on a flight returning to Edinburgh."

"The safety of its passengers and crew remains the airline’s number one priority and Flybe apologises for the inconvenience experienced."