Three attempts to land an Airbus Beluga last night after crew report “issue” with transporter while in flight

An Airbus Beluga was spotted circling over Flintshire and Cheshire last night as it made several attempts to land at Broughton.

Beluga number 5 was flying in from Toulouse just before 6pm when it was seen approaching Hawarden airfield preparing to land.

The transporter descended to around 2,700 but abandoned the landing, the plane flew past the runway and looped low over Aston Hill and back towards Chester.

The pilot attempted a second landing following the same line of flight, again looping low over Aston Hill.

The plane finally landed on the third attempted.

An Airbus spokesperson told Deeside.com:

“On approach to Hawarden Aerodrome, the crew of Beluga Tango Foxtrot (No. 5) reported an issue with the aircraft.”

“After assessing the situation the pilot determined the aircraft could land safely and the plane touched down safely at 18:08hrs.”

Beluga 5 remained at Broughton overnight.