Newquay flight takes ‘precautionary diversion’ to Exeter Airport

A flight scheduled to land at Cornwall Airport Newquay was diverted to Exeter as “a precaution”, an airline operator has said.

Eastern Airways said a cockpit warning light for “a flap configuration issue” appeared during the T3 458 service from London Gatwick Airport to Newquay on Tuesday night.

It said the warning light appeared during the approach into Newquay and as a result a decision was made to divert the ATR 72-600 plane to Exeter to avoid the “strong and gusting winds”.

The operator said the light “extinguished” on the descent to Exeter and the aircraft made a “normal and safe” landing.

“The passengers were then transported by road to Newquay while the aircraft underwent engineering checks as a precaution,” it said.

“The aircraft will not be released back into service until the cause of the spurious warning light has been identified.

“We would like to apologise to our customers who were affected by this diversion but reassure everyone that safety is always our top priority at Eastern Airways.”