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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Gatwick Airport plane lands without clearance | Gatwick Airport plane lands without clearance |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An investigation is under way after a passenger plane landed at Gatwick Airport without clearance. | An investigation is under way after a passenger plane landed at Gatwick Airport without clearance. |
| An airport controller instructed the pilot to abort the landing because the runway was occupied by another aircraft that had already landed, National Air Traffic Services (Nats) said. | |
| The crew of the Boeing 737 acknowledged the instruction to "go-around", but the aircraft continued to land, it said. | The crew of the Boeing 737 acknowledged the instruction to "go-around", but the aircraft continued to land, it said. |
| The incident happened at 18:50 GMT on Monday. | The incident happened at 18:50 GMT on Monday. |
| Nats said standard language was used by the controller who began to give surface wind conditions to the aircraft, which usually precedes a landing clearance, before issuing the "go-around" command. | Nats said standard language was used by the controller who began to give surface wind conditions to the aircraft, which usually precedes a landing clearance, before issuing the "go-around" command. |
| 'Illegal thing to do' | |
| It is understood that the other aircraft was exiting the runway as the plane came in to land. | It is understood that the other aircraft was exiting the runway as the plane came in to land. |
| At the time the plane landed, the runway was no longer occupied and safety was not jeopardised at any time, the Nats spokesman added. | |
| Aviation expert David Learmount described the incident as "pretty unusual". | |
| "Disobeying an air traffic control order is an illegal thing to do on the international stage," he said. | |
| He added that the aircraft on the runway would have been "way ahead" of the plane that landed. | |
| The Civil Aviation Authority said it had not received a report from Nats, which usually took 24 to 48 hours to reach them. |