Plane forced to make emergency landing on beach metres from Blackpool tower

A plane has been forced to make an emergency landing on Blackpool Beach – just metres from the iconic tower.

Shocked bystanders watched the drama unfold as emergency services rushed to the scene at around 6pm on Thursday evening.

They were responding to reports of a downed light aircraft on the beach.

It comes as Strictly Come Dancing crews are setting up for this week’s Blackpool Tower ballroom special just a few moments away from the scene of the incident.

The registration details of the plane show that the two-seater single-engine Robin 200 aircraft G-HIGB is managed by a flight training firm located at Blackpool Airport.

No injuries have been reported as a result of the crash, The Sun reports.

The famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom was opened in 1894 and its floor measures 120 feet by 102 feet. It’s been a regular fixture on the inconic dancing show Stritly Come Dancing since its second series. Since 2007 it’s been on every series of the show, with the exception of during the Covid crisis.

The dancefloor has 30,602 separate blocks of mahogany, oak and walnut.

The dancefloor is known as the home of ballroom and has hosted competitions for decades.

BBC meteorologist Carol Kirkwood was recently broadcasting live from the Tower Ballroom as preparations were being made for this week’s Strictly episode, however her report wasn’t plain sailing.

“Morning, Carol,” BBC Breakfast host Charlie Stayt announced as the camera cut to the weather presenter in Blackpool.

“Good morning Charlie, good morning to you. It’s quite exciting being in here I must say,” she replied.

She added: “Strictly Come Dancing, live on BBC One this Saturday – but look at the preparation that happens before we see all the action.

“Exciting stuff, can you imagine how it would feel if you’re walking down these steps on to this iconic ballroom dancefloor and then having to dance in front of millions of people?

“My heart is already thumping at the very prospect.”

Behind Carol, flickering bright lights illuminated the ballroom in changing colours.

“But there will be seven couples who do that, all hoping to lift that Strictly trophy at the end of the competition,” Carol continued.

Carol then moved on to report the latest on the weather forecast.

As the cameras cut back to the BBC studio, Charlie and co-host Naga Munchetty seemed baffled.

“I’m a bit sort of fazed by that,” Charlie admitted.

“Yeah, that was like the inside of a tardis or something with all those lights!”

“She did very well,” Charlie commented before Naga stated: “See you later, Carol.”