A TRANSATLANTIC flight was noticed circling around St Helens yesterday before making an emergency landing more than 3000 miles away from its destination.
Residents reported witnessing an aircraft circling around the St Helens area yesterday, while others noticed its unusual course on the flight tracking apps and websites.
Information from the 'Flight Radar 24' website shows that the Condor DE2016 flight left Frankfurt at 12.22pm on Wednesday, May 8, and was scheduled to arrive in New York at 2.35pm US time.
However, with the flight seen circling around St Helens and Wigan yesterday afternoon, the passenger plane made an emergency diversion to Manchester Airport.
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Manchester Airport has confirmed to the Star that the diversion was due to a "medical emergency on board".
A spokesperson also confirmed that airspace above St Helens is one of the usual areas that aircraft use to circle (known as stacks) while they wait for an opportunity to land at Manchester Airport.
Aircrafts often circle areas prior to making emergency stops if the air traffic or runway is congested, or they may need to reduce fuel and weight before landing.
The spokesperson for Manchester Airport confirmed that the plane set off for New York later that afternoon, with flight tracking information showing that it landed safely at 6.18pm US time.
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