‘Unusual smell’ sees Kirkwall-bound flight diverted

A flight between Edinburgh and Kirkwall was diverted to Aberdeen this morning after reports of an “unusual smell” in the cockpit.

Emergency vehicles were deployed at Aberdeen as the flight came in to land.

According to Loganair, the captain of the flight, which departed Edinburgh at 9.25am for Kirkwall with 20 passengers, one infant and three crew on board, “elected to divert to Aberdeen as a precautionary measure after detecting an unusual smell in the cockpit.”

The airline added: “The safety of its passengers and crew is the airline’s number one priority and the plane landed safely at 10.45am without further incident. The passengers disembarked as normal when the aircraft arrived on stand. As is normal in such circumstances, the airport placed its emergency vehicles on standby.

“Loganair apologises for any inconvenience experienced by its passengers who are all now continuing on their journey on another aircraft.”

A spokesman denied that the smell was smoke, saying that the matter was under investigation.