Passengers evacuated after smell of smoke

Friday 26th November 2010, 2:30PM GMT.

Airport firefighters and operations staff check over the Flybe aircraft which caused the alert yesterday following reports of smoke in the cabin. (Pictures by Adrian Miller, 1058419)

MORE than 40 passengers, one of them a baby, were evacuated from an aircraft yesterday morning after reports of smoke in the cabin.

Operations were brought to a standstill for around 45 minutes during the alert affecting a Flybe Southampton-bound plane that had been taxiing at Guernsey airport before take off at 9.50am.

Airport firefighters were on the scene quickly to investigate the emergency, the source of which still remained unclear today.

The Bombardier Q400 aircraft was moved away from the terminal and its passengers taken off.

No-one was injured during the incident, which closed the airport from 10.15am.