AAIB report: Plane left runway in strong winds

A plane with 15 passengers briefly left the runway during an attempt to land in gusty conditions on St Mary's, a report has said.

The twin otter commercial flight to the Isles of Scilly airport attempted to land at 15:35 GMT on 13 March.

Gusts of wind are likely to have caused the aircraft to veer left and leave the runway, so the pilot elected to take off again.

The Air Accident Investigations Branch reported that a "more serious outcome was avoided" due to the pilot's actions.

"The aircraft travelled approximately 12m across adjacent grass before getting airborne again," the report said.

No damage was caused to the aircraft which was carrying passengers from Land's End at the time.

The report said several flights earlier in the day were cancelled due to strong winds at St Mary's.

By the time of the flight winds were reported to have dropped so the experienced pilot decided to go ahead.

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