Aviation expert: "Plane accident was crash landing"

The Blue Islands flight which suffered mechanical failure on Saturday did crash land, according to an aviation expert.

The airline, however, strongly deny this is the case.

The aircraft's undercarriage collapsed just after it landed at Jersey Airport from Guernsey.

Aviation Expert Chris Yates said: "There's no doubt that this was a crash landing. The aircraft ended up somewhere towards the end of the runway, with one wing down the left hand side of the undercarriage down.

"It hadn't taxied from the runway itself through the taxiways at the airport to the terminal building, so there is no doubt that you can make a very solid, very valid argument that this was a crash landing in the classic sense."

All 40 passengers left the plane unhurt, but some were very shaken and terrified.

They have been speaking out about the screams and panic on board and the scramble to escape the aircraft.

A team of aircraft accident inspectors have been in Jersey to take a close look at the plane, which became grounded on the runway.

The undercarriage of a Blue Islands ATR42 with 40 passengers and three crew aboard collapsed after touchdown just before 8.30am Saturday.

There were no injuries but some passengers were screaming as the plane came to an abrupt halt. It was almost eight hours before the airport could re-open.

The airport remained open until late Saturday night to clear the backlog of passengers, but some flights were cancelled.

The plane is being moved to a stand at the rear of the terminal for a close inspection by air accident investigators.

Blue Islands said today in a statement: "Investigations are heavily underway regarding the incident at Jersey Airport on Saturday involving a Blue Islands aircraft.

As we expect to see in the Airline Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) official report, our initial investigations indicate that shortly after a safe landing, during the roll out phase, a component on the left hand landing gear failed, causing the aircraft to give way. We suspect this is a premature failure of a component part which is just two years into an eight year life.

All passengers onboard swiftly and safely disembarked the aircraft through the main door. There were no injuries. Once passengers had been assessed by medical staff, they were released from the airport, along with their baggage.

On Saturday afternoon, all passengers onboard the aircraft were contacted by Blue Islands and offered any counselling support regarding the incident, should they so wish."