UPDATE: Plane forced to land at Gatwick after '˜seagull shatters engine'

The Thomson Airways flight was travelling to Tenerife when it was forced to make the emergency landing this morning (January 10).

On Twitter Eric Jackson said the plane struck a seagull as it took off and the bird “shattered the core of the engine”.

He said: “There was a thud on takeoff from the left engine and heavy vibrations it was obvious something had happened.”

A spokesman for Thomson Airways confirmed the plane had been forced to land at Gatwick.

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