An EasyJet plane was forced to abort its landing in Paris after a wedding procession set off fireworks near the airport runway.
Flights at Paris-Orly were thrown into disarray late on Sunday afternoon after a pilot approaching to land was met with the sight of small explosions on the tarmac just moments before touchdown.
At around 5.40pm on April 5, the captain of an EasyJet flight arriving from Venice suddenly saw flashes of light and smoke close to the ground, near the threshold of runway 3, also known as runway 25.
Several people were spotted blasting fireworks from the corner of Rue Lamartine and Rue du 8-Mai-1945 in Villeneuve-le-Roi, close to the Staf transport company’s warehouses.
Reacting instantly, the pilot abandoned the landing to protect those on board.
He powered up, climbed sharply, and steered the aircraft away from the danger zone.
The pilot circled over the surrounding areas of Essonne, Sénart, part of Seine-et-Marne, and eastern Val-de-Marne, before making another attempt.
Inside the control tower, emergency procedures were triggered, with runway 3 immediately shut.
With limited options remaining, controllers redirected the flight to runway 4, where it landed ‘without incident,’ according to the prosecutor’s office.
Runway 3 remained closed ‘until 7 pm,’ a source confirmed, as armed officers were sent to investigate the source of the blasts.
They later found the explosions came from a wedding procession involving around fifteen vehicles.
The prosecutor’s office said only that a ‘sedan and several individuals firing fireworks into the air’ were involved.
No arrests have been made yet.
An Easyjet spokesperson said: ‘easyJet can confirm that the captain of flight EJU4874 from Venice to Paris Orly on 5 April elected to perform a routine ‘go around’ on arrival into Orly due to perceived fireworks in the vicinity of the runway.’
‘easyJet’s pilots are highly trained in order to perform ‘go arounds’ as a precaution and in line with our procedures and the flight landed normally. At no point was the safety of the passengers onboard compromised.’
‘The safety and well-being of its passengers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority.’
