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A Tui flight from Cardiff Airport to Cyprus declared an emergency and was forced to divert to Birmingham following a bird strike shortly after take-off.
The Boeing 737, flight number TOM 6754 , was bound for Paphos when the incident occurred at 4.30pm on Sunday.
Birmingham Airport was forced to suspend its operations while emergency services met the aircraft upon its arrival.
The jet’s pilots circled Swansea Bay at approximately 3,000 feet (900m) before climbing up to 12,000 feet (3600m) and travelling towards the West Midlands to land.
Passengers and crew were safely disembarked after the aircraft burned fuel in a series of orbits before landing at 5.30pm.
The cause is reported to be engine failure, according to the BBC.
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The Boeing 737 bound for Cyprus was forced to divert to Birmingham (Getty Images)
A spokesperson for Cardiff Airport told The Independent: “We are aware of an incident involving flight TOM6754 from Cardiff to Paphos.
“The safety of our passengers is our number one priority. The aircraft diverted to Birmingham Airport (BHX) and landed safely at approximately 5.30pm.”
A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said: “Birmingham Airport temporarily suspended operations at 5.12pm for approximately 30 minutes to accept a TUI inbound divert.
“In line with normal procedures the airport’s Fire Service met the aircraft on arrival. The aircraft landed safely and taxied to the apron.”
The Independent has contacted Tui for comment.
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Flight circled before landing where it was met by emergency services (FlightRadar24)
Last month, Birmingham Airport was forced to close for 41 minutes causing delays and travel disruption with all flights suspended after an “aircraft incident”.
The incident is believed to have been caused by a light aircraft whose landing gear would not deploy as it tried to travel to Belfast around 1pm on Wednesday.
The Midlands airport is the UK’s seventh busiest and registered a 12 per cent increase in passenger numbers in 2024 to reach 12.85 million. Experts expected a busy summer for the West Midlands hub, as easyJet joins the growing number of airlines to set up base at Birmingham.
One person suffered minor injuries after the small aircraft made an emergency landing at Birmingham Airport, according to West Midlands Police.