Elton John's flight on board his private jet from London to New York on Monday was forced to make an emergency landing at Farnborough Airport in Hampshire outside London.
The jet had hydraulic failure at 10,000 feet, which forced the pilots to make a U-turn near the coast of southern Ireland. There were 80-mile-per-hour winds that forced the pilot to abort landing two times while ambulances and fire crews lined up alongside the runway.
A witness told ‘The Sun,’ “The jet was being buffeted and couldn’t land. It was horrible to see."
Another witness, Philip Thomson, said, “The aircraft’s nose was far too vertical. The plane was descending and was halfway along the runway when it gave up trying to hit the tarmac. It soared back in the air. A crowd had gathered after word went around that Elton was in difficulty. And as the plane came around again for a second attempt to land, the storm was doing its worst.”
“It was only at the third attempt to land that the plane got down.” A reportedly very shaken Elton boarded a later flight to resume his ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour last night and Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]