Teesside Airport light aircraft incident leaves one seriously injured
- Published
The light aircraft is said to have "taken off then come back down again very quickly"
A pilot and two passengers have been taken to hospital following an incident involving a light aircraft at Teesside International Airport.
Those onboard were taken to James Cook University Hospital following the incident at 09:39 BST on Saturday.
One patient suffered serious injuries and was flown to the hospital by the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
The airport said, external it will remain closed for the weekend for the Air Accident Investigation Branch to investigate.
A spokesperson said: "We are hopeful the airport will reopen on Monday 27 September.
"We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank all of our passengers who have been very understanding today.
"All of our thoughts and prayers are with the three people onboard at the time of the incident and their families."
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service general manager Rob Cherrie, said the light aircraft "had taken off then come back down again very quickly" and fire crews had been "forced to cut the three people out of the plane".
The North East Ambulance Service said: "We sent two ambulances, a specialist paramedic, an officer and requested support from the Great North Air Ambulance.
"In total, three patients were taken to James Cook hospital, one with serious injuries. One patient was taken by air and the two other patients were transported by road."
In a statement the airport said: "We would like to thank the emergency services, on site staff for their quick response."
There were passengers at the airport waiting to board flights at the time.
Mr Cherrie added: "I wouldn't say it's the busiest airport but there were passengers present - by the time we went on to the runway it was closed and flights had been diverted."
Several flights have been diverted to Newcastle International Airport.
The airport said arrangements were in place for passengers due to travel inbound and outbound on Ryanair flights.
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