Flames glimpsed as Tornado lands

Flames were seen around the landing gear of a Royal Air Force Tornado bomber as it made an emergency landing at Malta International Airport last night. Sources said the problem appeared to be due to a fault in the aircraft’s gearbox system. The pilot radioed the emergency at around 8.45 p.m. and the Tornado landed at about 9 p.m. blocking the runway until it could be towed away by units from the airport’s fire section. A Primera Air flight from Stockholm to Malta was diverted to Catania while other aircraft used a secondary runway. Sources said that the RAF Tornado was involved in operations over Libya.