An SAS flight from Stockholm was just about to land in Skellefteå on Tuesday morning when strong winds forced the pilot to abort the landing.
– Crosswinds pushed the plane slightly off course during the final approach, so the pilot made the decision to go around, said staff at Skellefteå air traffic control.
The plane was extremely close to the runway at the time.
– The wheels were just above the ground, the spokesperson added.
Flight data from tracking site Flightradar24 shows the plane circling over areas including Bureå, Järvtjärn and Skråmträsk before landing safely at 09:33 – just eight minutes behind schedule.
– The pilot followed standard procedure in this situation. It’s completely by the book.
How common is this type of incident?
– It happens every day around the world. But it’s rare in Skellefteå, simply because we have relatively little air traffic here.