Sir Elton was caught in a terrifying mid air emergency as his private jet suffered a hydraulic failure.
Gatekeepers News reports that Sir Elton John was caught in a terrifying mid-air drama as his private jet suffered hydraulic failure en route New York then twice failed to make an emergency landing due to high winds.
The singer was travelling from Farnborough Airport in Hampshire on Monday for a gig in New York and was at 10,000ft over Ireland when pilots decided they had to return due to a problem with the plane’s hydraulic systems.
The pilot radioed ahead and requested an emergency landing with fire crews racing to the runway to be on hand.
But as Storm Franklin’s 80mph winds buffeted the airfield the plane was twice forced to abort its emergency landing and go around again, only successfully touching down at the third attempt.
Emergency services surrounded the £66m Bombardier Global Express jet as it came to a halt, with sources telling The Sun 74-year-old Sir Elton was ‘shaken’ by the incident.
One source said: ‘The jet was being buffeted and couldn’t land. It was horrible to see.’
However, Elton later hopped on a plane to the United States to ensure he was in the country in time for his performance at at Madison Square Garden as part of his global Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.
The ordeal begun soon after the aircraft left Farnborough bound for New York at 10.20am.
An hour into the journey, the jet suffered hydraulic failure and the pilot turned back as they approached the south coast of Ireland.
As they headed back to Hampshire, an emergency landing was declared with ambulance crews and police alerted at 11.19am.
Firefighters from six stations raced to the airport and the runway was cleared.
Plumber Philip Thomson told The Sun: ‘The terrible weather and epic gusts made it almost impossible to land. Two attempts to touch down failed.
‘The plane was being buffeted and couldn’t make it. 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.’
He added that the pilot made two attempts to land but the stormy conditions made it too difficult.
