Edinburgh flight to New York made to emergency land after plane 'catches fire'

Flight was heading from Edinburgh to Big Apple

An Edinburgh man has told how the plane he was on "nose-dived" towards the clouds with its engine "on fire" before making an emergency landing.

Richard McRobbie and his wife Randa were heading to New York on a Delta Air Lines flight from the Capital when flames started billowing from the wings minutes after it took off. The plane was diverted to Glasgow Prestwick airport and the passengers were safely evacuated. Mr McRobbie, 47, said he and his wife, 37, were going to New York for his brother-in-law's 50th birthday.

"We were on the plane and there was a bit of a funny noise as we went along the runway before we took off – it was a strange noise. Thinking back now, with hindsight, it didn't sound right. We took off and I ended up nodding off and I woke up with a banging noise - three big sort of bangs and the next minute the plane suddenly nose-dived and then out the window the engines are on fire.

Richard McRobbie and his wife Randa recovering from their ordeal and hoping they can still get to New Yorl.

"We were just above the clouds at that point, you could see the clouds below us and you could see yourself going towards the clouds. I didn't know where we were. I do a bit of mountain walking, so I tried to turn on my GPS to understand where I was - I'd woken up with a fright and I was looking round and I could see everyone's eyes, like startled, and then we started going down."

He said he was "totally worried" when he saw the flames from the wings. "My wife was sleeping at that point and I tapped her on the leg, then I thought I'd better leave her just now, I don't want to distress her. She woke up when we were about to land, maybe about 50 metres off the ground, and I said 'We're about to land' and she said 'Where are we?' She didn't have time to get too worried, but as soon as we landed we had to get off the plane.

"It was 'Please leave the plane, do not collect your belongings. Get off the plane immediately' - because basically the plane was on fire on the runway."

Mr McRobbie said there had been no explanation on board the plane about what was happening. "The pilot came into the main area at one point and he looked a bit shocked, and there was an air stewardess as well, but they didn't give us any information. There was one lady with her family and she looked as if she was hyperventilating - she went through and got attended to. And there were lots of people making stressful noises."

The passengers were still at Prestwick this afternoon, awaiting news of whether they would be able to continue their journey. "We might get a flight tomorrow," said Mr McRobbie. "We've been told by the airline to 'hold fire'. I live right next to Edinburgh airport, so I just want to go home for now." He said the passengers had their belongings returned after three or four hours.

A Delta Air Lines spokesperson said: "“Delta flight 209 from Edinburgh to New York-JFK safely diverted to Prestwick, Glasgow after a mechanical issue with the aircraft. We apologise to our customers for this inconvenience and are working to get them to their final destination as quickly as possible.”