This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Flights were temporarily suspended at Stansted airport after an aborted takeoff by a Vienna-bound plane on Friday evening.

A spokesman for the Essex airport said the incident had happened shortly after 8pm and that all passengers had been safely evacuated. The runway was reopened around three hours later.

Stansted says it had received reports that eight people had minor injuries.

One passenger described hearing a bang as his flight attempted to take off. Thomas Steer, a 24-year-old estate agent, said the plane had been accelerating for about 15 seconds before there was a “big bang on the side of the aircraft, which skidded to a stop”.

He said: “It was scary. And then staff shouting: ‘Evacuate, evacuate.’ My friend opened the emergency exit and we slid down the slides. A few old people fell over and the fire brigade treated them.”

There were no reports of serious injuries. Images posted to social media by delayed passengers showed flashing blue lights on the runway.

Stansted airport said the incident had been caused by a “suspected engine problem”, adding: “Emergency service attended and all passengers were evacuated from the aircraft as a precaution and have now been taken back to the terminal.”

The airport later said the aircraft had been removed from the runway and a full inspection had been carried out. Flights to Stansted were diverted to other airports while that took place.

“We are extremely sorry for the disruption caused by the incident, but our first priority is always the safety of passengers and staff,” it said.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it was sending a team to Stansted to look into the incident.