easyJet flight met by fire crews after suddenly returning to Manchester as passengers hear 'grinding noise'

An easyJet flight was met by fire crews on the runway after suddenly returning to Manchester Airport on Tuesday afternoon (June 20).

The EZY2033 flight, from Manchester to Alicante, circled for a short while before returning back to Manchester as passengers reported hearing a 'grinding noise' when up in the air.

The flight path shows how the flight initially took off at 12.30pm, before circling over six times over the Peak District, flying over Cheshire and eventually returning back to Manchester an hour later.

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easyJet said that the 'safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is our highest priority' and that the flight was eventually cancelled due to a 'technical issue' with the aircraft that 'could not be resolved'.

The plane was met by fire engines on the runway at Manchester Airport. It is understood that this is a standard procedure in instances where pilots make emergency landings due to technical fault. Passengers have now been booked onto alternate flights.

One passenger on board told the M.E.N: "There was a weird big grinding noise on take off. Then we didn't seem to get any higher and could tell we were circling.

"After a while, the pilot came on saying there was a technical issue and we had to return to Manchester. On landing, all fire engines were around the runway and plane when we came to a stop.

"We were told we’d get further info on what was happening and were eventually told flight was cancelled. We got a message when we were sat in departures waiting for information telling us it was cancelled and offering us the chance to re-book. We have re-booked for tomorrow morning."

A spokesperson for easyJet said: “easyJet can