Spirit Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Bermuda
A flight was forced to land in Bermuda last night after it suffered a major fuel leak.
Spirit Airlines Flight 332 from Philadelphia to San Juan in Puerto Rico was diverted to LF Wade International Airport at 9.41pm.
Air traffic controllers were alerted to the aircraft’s descent and were told it was leaking fuel from its right wing.
A crew with the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service met the flight and confirmed a significant fuel leak from the tip of the aircraft’s right wing.
Firefighters then assisted with the fuel leak after the aircraft was allowed to taxi to the terminal.
A spokeswoman for Skyport, which has control of the airport, confirmed that the Airbus was fully examined and that all 115 passengers on board were safe during the incident.
She added: “A relief aircraft was flown into Bermuda to transport the passengers to their destination.
“The original aircraft remains on island awaiting necessary repairs.
“The flight departed Bermuda at 08.52 hours on April 28.
“Skyport would like to thank all partners involved for their support in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the passengers and crew during the diversion.”
A British Airways flight was delayed for almost four hours on Sunday because the cabin crew could not get their needed rest.
British Airways Flight 158 to Heathrow Airport in London was set to leave Bermuda at 7.50pm, but got delayed over “operational challenges”.
Passengers were told that the flight crew did not get the mandatory amount of rest needed to operate the plane.
BA Flight 158 eventually left at 11.21pm and landed at Heathrow at 10.15am GMT — about 3½ hours late.
A British Airways spokeswoman said: “We have apologised to our customers for the delay to their service, which was necessary to allow our crew the legal number of rest hours in order to operate the flight.
“The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority.”