Horror on take-off as passengers see landing gear fall off plane

[Palosm]

Stunned passengers saw a wheel fall off a Flybe plane just seconds after it took off from Exeter airport.
The wheel somehow became detached and plummeted to the ground just moments into the journey from Exeter to Newcastle.
Bizarrely, it was air traffic control who alerted the pilot to what had occurred rather than those sitting in the window seats who saw it happen.
On taking the call the pilot immediately dispatched air stewards to investigate and it is at this point that the passengers told them what they had seen, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch report found.


Air traffic control told the flight crew a wheel might have been lost and the senior stewardess who were asked to inspect the right landing gear area by the captain were told by passengers about the wheel falling off.
As the pilots of the Dash 8 aircraft attempted to get the Flybe operated aircraft down, passengers were moved so they were evenly distributed, the report said.
The pilots decided to return to Exeter using the ‘alternate landing gear extension’ procedure.

This dramatic image was taken by a passenger. The wheel somehow became detached and plummeted to the ground just moments into the Flybe flight from Exeter to Newcastle.

[geo]

Oh my god, I would be terrified if anything like that happened if I was on the plane. That type of stuff would put me off flying on a plane, aha.

[beth]

oh jesus i hate planes anyway and if i saw this happen, bloody hell i'd be in bits.

[Casio]

All I would be thinking is, we a bumpy ride ahead of us..