Passengers on board a Gatwick-bound flight were forced to swap aircraft when the plane had to land in Copenhagen because of a ‘technical issue’.
The Norwegian Boeing 737-8JP aircraft was just 40 minutes into its flight from Oslo when it was abruptly diverted east to the Danish capital as a ‘precautionary measure’ when midair above the North Sea.
understands the diversion was caused by a failure of the plane’s weather radar. The system is vital piece of kit and helps pilots avoid and navigate hazardous conditions in the sky.
The plane safely landed on the runway at Copenhagen airport just before 8.30pm where passengers were told that luggage had been offloaded and transferred to another aircraft.
One passenger told us there were groans on board the DY1308 flight as they were told by the plane’s crew they would have to wait a few minutes for buses to arrive in order to take them to another plane.
Some people stood in the middle of the aisle with the plane becoming uncomfortably hot and stuffy when the air conditioning was turned off.
Around ten minutes later, irritated looking passengers were ushered down some airstairs onto a waiting bus before being taken to the new plane.
A spokeswoman for Norwegian told : ‘This was not an emergency landing, it was a normal landing.
‘There were indications of a technical issue, and as a precautionary measure, the flight was diverted to Copenhagen for a technical inspection.
‘We are working on a solution for the affected passengers and we apologise for the inconvenience.’
According to the Airbus safety magazine website, the airborne weather radar system ‘is an essential tool for pilots’ and ‘enables the strategic and tactical planning of a safe flight trajectory’.
has contacted Norwegian for further comment.