Plane bound from Orkney to Inverness forced to make emergency landing

A PASSENGER plane today made an emergency landing midway through its journey after crew found smoke in the cockpit.

The Loganair flight from Sumburgh to Inverness via Kirkwall landed at Wick airport in Caithness shortly after 9am.

There were 13 passengers onboard when the right-hand engine started to emit smoke.

Emergency drills were carried out and the plane was diverted to Wick, where it landed safely and all the passengers disembarked.

Emergency services attended the scene, which was pronounced safe shortly before 9.30am.

Another aircraft was sent from Aberdeen to Wick to enable the passengers to continue their journey and they are expected to arrive in Inverness two hours behind schedule.

A Loganair spokesman said: "Loganair takes the safety of its passengers and crew very seriously and we will be carrying out a full inspection of the aircraft to determine the cause of today's incident."