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Flight aborted 'at high speed' during take-off

Louise Parry
BBC News, Bedfordshire
Paul Bartlett engers seen leaving the plane and walking towards the camera. It is a purple plane with WizzAir.com on the side. A fire engine is nearby with a fire fighter walking towards the plane, and two men in high vis clothing stand guiding engers.Paul Bartlett
A enger says a "full flight" to Albania was mid take-off when it was aborted at Luton

A enger has described how "the brakes slammed on" when a flight was aborted during take-off.

Paul Bartlett, 64, was on the 15:10 Wizz Air flight to Tirana, Albania on Monday when the incident happened at London Luton Airport.

The airport said "all engers disembarked safely" and that the fire service had attended "as a precautionary measure".

A Wizz Air spokesperson said the take-off was aborted due to "a technical reason" and confirmed engers boarded another flight to Tirana on Monday evening.

"The health and safety of our engers is our top priority," they said.

"The crew followed standard procedures, ensuring all engers and crew disembarked the aircraft safely whilst necessary checks were taken."

Paul Bartlett Seen through the window, the white plane sits on the tarmac with several vehicles nearby including a fire engine. The side of the plane is open with the steps leading down and some people in high vis vest Paul Bartlett
Fire engines were called "as a precaution" to check the aircraft

Mr Bartlett, who lives in Milton Keynes, said the plane was on the runway and "we were literally one or two seconds from take off when there was heavy braking".

"There was no panic, it was a superb stop by the pilots. The cabin crew were good," he told the BBC.

He said engers were told in an onboard announcement that the reason was believed to be "an instrument fault".

"Everyone is perfectly fine – they're just checking the aircraft now," he said, speaking from inside the terminal where engers were waiting.

A spokesperson for London Luton Airport said: "The aircraft returned to stand in line with the industry's safety-first approach. There was no disruption to airport operations."

The airport said the incident was not something that would be reportable to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.

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