Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n Flights at Birmingham Airport<\/a> will remain grounded until at least 8pm after a small aircraft made an emergency landing.<\/p>\n Three people from the aircraft were treated at the scene with one suffering minor injuries from the incident, which occurred at around 1.40pm on Wednesday, West Midlands Police<\/a> said.<\/p>\n Other emergency services including police, fire and ambulance all attended the scene at the airport\u2019s runway.<\/p>\n Footage and images shared on social media appeared to show a small white plane lying flat on the airport tarmac.<\/p>\n The aircraft, which is understood to be a Beechcraft B200 Super King Air, currently remains on the runway.<\/p>\n The Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) said it had started an investigation into the incident, with \u201ca multi-disciplinary team including inspectors with expertise in aircraft operations, engineering and recorded data\u201d deployed to the airport.<\/p>\n A Beechcraft B200 Super King Air was also involved in a plane crash at London Southend Airport in July, which killed four people on board.<\/p>\n Some 25 departure flights listed on the Birmingham Airport\u2019s website to destinations across Europe, including one to Amsterdam originally scheduled for 8.50pm, had been cancelled on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n Passengers<\/a> have been told to check the status of their flight before coming to the airport, with both check-in and security also temporarily shut.<\/p>\n Birmingham Airport first shared that its runway was temporarily closed following the incident at around 2.40pm.<\/p>\n In an update posted on X, the airport said: \u201cFollowing an aircraft incident that occurred this afternoon, operations are expected to remain suspended until at least 8pm.<\/p>\n \u201cPassengers at the airport are advised to speak to their airline for further information. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.\u201d<\/p>\n Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said disruption at the airport was \u201cminimal\u201d but she understood \u201chow frustrating\u201d the situation was for passengers.<\/p>\n Gunnar Lauridsen, a 76-year-old from Denmark who had been on holiday playing golf, said he would most likely miss his connecting flight because of the closed runway.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cWe are ultimately going to Billund in Denmark. This delay probably means we can\u2019t get our connection. So that means that we will be staying probably in Amsterdam overnight.<\/p>\n \u201cI should have been to the doctor\u2019s tomorrow morning. When you travel, things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Camile Monteleone, a visual merchandiser, was meant to fly home to Barcelona after working in the UK for three days, but did not know if her flight from the airport had been cancelled.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old said: \u201cI don\u2019t have any news. I\u2019m like \u2018what is going on\u2019. It does not say anything on the Ryanair app about the flight.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just waiting for information. I have to let people know I\u2019m here, stuck at the airport. I cannot do anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n