Elton John’s private plane suffers worrying glitch while cruising at 3000m

The pop icon suffered through a white-knuckled flight after a glitch forced his pilot to repeatedly try to make an emergency landing in the middle of a storm.

The flight path of Elton John's plane. Picture: Supplied

Sir Elton John has been caught up in a terrifying mid-air drama after his private jet suffered hydraulic failure at 10,000ft (3000m).

The plane twice aborted landing as a major storm hit the UK with winds hitting 130km/h. Fire crews raced to Farnborough Airport, an hour south of London, during the emergency The Sun reported.

A witness said it was “horrible”.

“The jet was being buffeted and couldn’t land. It was horrible to see,” they said.

The superstar singer, 74, was shaken by the ordeal – but hours later caught another flight to the US in time for a gig.

Elton John boarded another flight hours later. Picture: Erika Goldring/Getty Images

His nailbiting drama began shortly after the $124 million jet left the airport for New York at 10.20am, local time.

About an hour into the trip, the aircraft suffered hydraulic failure and the pilot had to turn back while approaching the coast of southern Ireland.

The plane headed back to Farnborough and radioed air traffic control to declare an emergency landing.

Ambulance crews and police were alerted at 11.19am. Firefighters from six stations raced to the scene and the runway was cleared.

Plumber Philip Thomson was working when the singer’s jet, adorned with a huge “E”, loomed into view – as Storm Franklin’s fierce winds battered the UK.

The airport fell silent as word got around the twin-jet Bombardier Global Express was in trouble.

“The terrible weather and epic gusts made it almost impossible to land. Two attempts to touch down failed,” Mr Thomson said.

“The plane was being buffeted and couldn’t make it. The aircraft’s nose was far too vertical. The plane was descending and was halfway along the runway when it gave up trying to hit the tarmac. It soared back in the air.

“A crowd had gathered after word went around that Elton was in difficulty. And as the plane came around again for a second attempt to land, the storm was doing its worst.

“The airport’s windsock was horizontal and the aircraft was being rocked from side to side by the wind.

“The pilot made a valiant attempt to get down with the jet ‘crabbing’ into the storm. But it didn’t make it and had to head back upwards.

“It was only at the third attempt to land that the plane got down. The pilot made a flatter approach and the wind had dropped slightly. Everyone watching was mightily relieved.”

The flight path of Elton John’s plane. Picture: Supplied

Mr Thomson admitted he was saying a prayer as he watched.

“It was a horrible thing to see, and you wouldn’t have swapped places with Elton on that small plane for anything. I bet he said a few prayers of thanks.”

Sir Elton was heading to New York to perform at Madison Square Garden as part of his global Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.

The star was so determined not to upset fans he put the harrowing ordeal behind him and caught a later flight to reach the US in time for the gig.

A source told The Sun the most important thing for the pop star was to make it to New York.

“It was a white-knuckle ride and Elton was shaken. But he put aside any personal anguish to get back on a plane. For Elton, quite literally, the show must go on,” they said.

Mr Thomson, who was carrying out maintenance at the airport on Monday before watching the drama unfold, said he was shocked the plane took off in the storm.

“I knew it must have been a work commitment in New York for Sir Elton to try to fly across the Atlantic in a private plane in a storm,” he said.

“But he wouldn’t have expected the jet to suffer a technical problem. It was so serious that I counted at least six fire engines that attended, along with the airport’s own incident team. The police and ambulance services were there, too.”

Elton John leaving his private plane at Adelaide Airport back in December 2019. Picture: Kelly Barnes

In 2019, a similar Bombardier Global 5000 jet belonging to the German government had problems landing in Berlin following a malfunction shortly after takeoff.

Sir Elton is regularly seen boarding and disembarking his plane after crisscrossing the globe.

The music star touched down in Auckland and Adelaide as part of his global tour before the Covid pandemic struck.

Sir Elton’s final world tour was announced in 2018 and was set to end in December 2020. But Covid meant dozens of shows had to be postponed.

He also announced he was moving the UK and European legs of the tour to 2023.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service confirmed the drama with the private jet in a statement.

“Firefighters from Rushmoor, Hartley Wintney, Basingstoke, Fleet, Yateley and Surrey FRS were called at 11.16 on Monday morning to an incident at Farnborough Airport,” a spokesman said.

“No action was taken by HIWFRS with the incident dealt with by the airport fire service.”

Farnborough Airport declined to comment on the emergency.

Sir Elton’s representatives did not comment.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and has been republished here with permission