Doncaster Airport to stay shut tonight after damaged plane closes runway

The Astral 747 was damaged after running onto grass at the airport earlier this afternoon.

Planes have been diverted and passengers warned of disruption while recovery of the stricken aircraft takes place.

But passengers have been told that while the runway will remain closed for tonight, the airport will be back up and running again as normal tomorrow morning.

Earlier, a spokesman said: “We can confirm that the runway at DSA is temporarily closed due to a 747 freight aircraft requiring operational support.

"There were no passengers on board at the time of the incident, and there were no injuries to colleagues or crew. The freight on board the aircraft may be offloaded to aid recovery.

“The fire team attended to assess the situation, have confirmed that the aircraft is safe, and have now returned to the station.

“This will cause disruption to flights arriving and departing from DSA this afternoon. An inbound flight from Poznan will divert to Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) and the outbound passengers to Poznan will be provided with transport to meet their flight from LBA.

“At this time it is unclear how quickly the runway can reopen. Passengers traveling to Katowice and Gdansk this evening should keep in touch with their airline.”

Photos from the scene showed fire crews as well as ladders leading to the aircraft’s cabin door.