EasyJet flight skids off runway after landing in bad weather after flying from Gatwick to

An easyJet flight has skidded off the runway after landing in bad weather after flying from Gatwick to Iceland. 

The terrifying incident saw the plane veer off the taxiway and skid onto a verge in Keflavik, Iceland.

Passengers were able to disembark the plane, but the airliner was taken out of service as an investigation into the incident was launched.

EasyJet blamed bad weather for the plane skidding off the runway.

The airline said: ‘We can confirm that flight EZY8843 from London Gatwick to Keflavik on 14 January went off the taxiway when taxying to its stand at low speed. All passengers disembarked normally.’

The terrifying incident saw the plane veer off the taxiway and skid onto a verge in Keflavik, Iceland. EasyJet blamed bad weather for the incident (file image of an easyJet Airbus A320-214)

‘We did all possible to minimise the delay for passengers due to return to the UK and arranged for a replacement aircraft to operate the flight back to London Gatwick,’ a spokesperson for easyJet added.

‘We would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.’

This comes after an easyJet passenger airliner carrying 179 people came within just 178ft (54 metres) of another flight two weeks ago as it tried to land in Bordeaux after a controller ‘forgot’ a plane was already on the runway, a report has concluded.

The Airbus A320, travelling from London Gatwick, was preparing to land at the Bordeaux-Mérignac airport on New Year’s Eve last year when an error by air traffic control saw it authorised to land as another aircraft was preparing to take off.

A French investigative body has deemed the encounter a ‘serious accident’ which they pinned on ATC forgetting the smaller DR400 was on the runway while clearing the 123ft A320, weighing up to 172 tonnes, to land on the same strip.

It came as ‘the shift manager… had reduced the number of controllers to three’ from six on the day of the near-accident, an investigative report by BEA has concluded.

Only seven seconds after telling the easyJet flight it was clear to land, a controller instructed them to abort the approach, the plane now just 40 metres (131ft) above the ground.

The report cited several contributing factors allowing the near-disaster to unfold, including a ‘significant decrease in staffing levels’ which left one controller running four stations at the same time ‘potentially leading to the oversight’.

Image shared by the BEA shows the airliner descending with the DR400 still on the tarmac

The investigation concluded the ‘awareness and proactive action’ of the DR400 pilot, intercepting communications and warning ATC, prevented the mistake from becoming a potentially devastating accident.

A shocking photo included in the BEA report showed the approach of the huge A320 airliner with the DR400 still on the runway.

EasyJet told MailOnline at the time: ‘We are aware of the report regarding the ATC error which confirms that our pilots followed procedures at all times. 

‘The safety of our passengers and crew is always our highest priority and we will always co-operate with safety investigations.’