Getty Images <\/p>\n
A Tui<\/a> flight from Cardiff Airport<\/a> to Cyprus<\/a> declared an emergency and was forced to divert to Birmingham following a bird strike shortly after take-off.<\/p>\n The Boeing 737, flight number TOM 6754 , was bound for Paphos when the incident occurred at 4.30pm on Sunday.<\/p>\n Birmingham Airport<\/a> was forced to suspend its operations while emergency services met the aircraft upon its arrival.<\/p>\n The jet\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n Passengers and crew were safely disembarked after the aircraft burned fuel in a series of orbits before landing at 5.30pm.<\/p>\n The cause is reported to be engine failure, according to the BBC.<\/a><\/p>\n A spokesperson for Cardiff Airport told The Independent: “We are aware of an incident involving flight TOM6754 from Cardiff to Paphos.<\/p>\n \u201cThe safety of our passengers is our number one priority. The aircraft diverted to Birmingham Airport (BHX) and landed safely at approximately 5.30pm.\u201d<\/p>\n A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said: \u201cBirmingham Airport temporarily suspended operations at 5.12pm for approximately 30 minutes to accept a TUI inbound divert. <\/p>\n \u201cIn line with normal procedures the airport\u2019s Fire Service met the aircraft on arrival. The aircraft landed safely and taxied to the apron.\u201d<\/p>\n The Independent has contacted Tui for comment.<\/p>\n Last month, Birmingham Airport was forced to close for 41 minutes causing delays and travel disruption with all flights suspended after an \u201caircraft incident\u201d.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\nFlight circled before landing where it was met by emergency services (FlightRadar24)<\/p>\n