Sussex football boss relives Gatwick emergency landing

Lovett was on the plane, an Emirates A380 from Dubai, that caused a scare a week ago when its steering failed. It landed safely but had to be towed off the runway while other flights were diverted.

And the Blues manager later discovered that fans watching his team play Tunbridge Wells in a pre-season friendly at the Hanbury had seen the plane circling before being cleared to land.

Photographer Ray Turner, who covers Heath matches for the club and the Mid Sussex Times and sussexworld.co.uk, took a picture of the plane as it passed overhead.

Lovett said he nervous about flying at the best of times and relieved the plane landed safely and everyone got out in one piece.

"We were getting towards the end of the flight home and I was talking to the person next to me and missed an announcement that there was a problem. I saw my wife and son, who I’d been on holiday to Dubai with, talking to each other and looking at me and they decided not to tell me what had been said as they know I get nervous,” he told us.

"The plane was circling for 15 or 20 minutes before it was cleared to land and we were all a bit tense but it landed safely and stopped on the runway. There were some 4x4 fire vehicles travelling alongside it which is always a bit disconcerting, but we were safe.

"Because the steering had failed it couldn’t get off the runway so we had to wait until trucks could tow it off. We were on the runway for what seemed like a long time – then we were towed in.

"It was quite strange to think we’d been circling over the football ground while the game was going on, but we were all just relieved to have landed – and it wasn’t even a bumpy landing.

"I’ve always been nervous about flying – I don’t like taking off or landing, it’s the lack of being in control! This hasn’t helped but hopefully I will be okay next time, though I may stay on the ground and go to a pre-season friendly instead!”

As we reported on sussexworld at the time of the incident – on July 11 – that the main Gatwick runway was closed for a ‘short time’ because of a fault in the plane’s landing gear which meant the plane could not turn.

The incident forced other aircraft to held in the air or temporarily grounded. Video footage from inside the aircraft showed passengers watching vehicles meeting the Emirates plane on the tarmac shortly before 8pm.

A London Gatwick spokesperson said at the time: “The Main Runway was closed for a short time last night (July 11), following an Emirates A380 making an emergency landing. It landed safely but due to a gear fault it could not turn off the runway, which meant it needed to be towed. Our team worked to get the plane off the runway as quickly as possible.”

An Emirates spokesperson said: “Emirates flight EK 009 on 11 July faced a technical fault on landing at LGW and was immediately met by ground units. All 408 passengers onboard were safely disembarked and the runway was cleared after a 29 minute delay.

"Necessary inspections were carried out and flight EK10 departed to Dubai with a two hour and 10 minute delay. Emirates sincerely apologises for any inconvenience caused. The safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance.”

On the ground, Heath beat Tunbridge Wells in their first pre-season friendly and are now continuing their build-up to the SCFL premier division season – while hoping not to be disrupted by any low-flying planes...