Engine panel falls off plane during take-off

Before departure from Southampton Airport, the captain had inspected the plane, including a check that the engine panels were secure, the report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.

Also, no abnormalities were found by a de-icing crew who had worked on the plane – a Dash 8 operated by airline Flybe – before it left.

A pilot sitting in a parked aircraft saw the panel thrown upward from the plane as it left Southampton with 40 passengers on board on the morning of April 22 this year.

He reported this to air traffic controllers (ATC), who passed the information to the flight crew.

The AAIB said: "Other than the report from the ATC, the flight crew were not aware of anything unusual. The aircraft appeared to behave normally."

Controllers advised the crew that a panel and some other debris had been found on the airfield and the captain decided to return to Southampton where the aircraft landed without further incident.