A Norwegian aircraft flying from Bergen declared an emergency and returned to the city's Flesland airport on Sunday after the crew received a warning about technical problems, according to NRK.
The plane landed at 16:16 local time. A large number of fire engines, ambulances and police vehicles were sent to the airport, NRK reports.
Operations leader Ingrid Teigland Tepstad of the Vest police district told NRK that full preparedness was established and substantial resources were dispatched to the scene.
Why it matters
The incident triggered a major emergency mobilisation at one of Norway's busiest airports, drawing fire, medical and police units to Flesland. It also disrupted other traffic, as several aircraft had to circle the airport before they were cleared to land, according to NRK.
The episode ended without injury. The airline said the aircraft touched down normally and taxied to a gate under its own power, and that technical staff would examine the plane.
What the airline says happened
A cockpit alert about technical problems prompted the pilots to shut down one of the aircraft's engines and turn back to Bergen, according to NRK. The broadcaster quoted a representative named Solli, who said the crew had requested heightened readiness on the ground.
Solli told NRK that shutting down an engine may sound frightening or dramatic, but that pilots spend a great deal of time in simulators practising both flying and landing on a single engine, and described the procedure as entirely undramatic.
The same representative said the plane landed without difficulty at Flesland and moved to a gate using its own engine. Technical crew were to inspect the aircraft, according to NRK.
Passengers had been taken off the plane and the departure was cancelled. Solli told NRK that work was under way on what would happen next, but that the details were not known to the representative.
Response on the ground
The emergency call set off a broad mobilisation. NRK reports that a large number of fire trucks, ambulances and police cars responded to Bergen airport, and that full preparedness was put in place.
Tepstad, the police operations leader, told NRK that considerable resources were sent towards the airport.
The scale of the response reflects standard practice when an aircraft reports a technical problem in flight: emergency services position themselves at the airport before the plane arrives so they can act immediately if something goes wrong during the landing.
In this case, the landing passed without incident, and the emergency response was stood down after the aircraft reached the gate.
Knock-on effects for other flights
The situation involving the Norwegian plane forced several other aircraft to circle the airport before they could land, according to NRK.
Holding patterns are a common consequence when an airport deals with an emergency. Controllers typically keep other traffic at a distance until the affected aircraft is safely on the ground and the runway is clear, which can push back arrival times for unrelated flights.
NRK did not say how many aircraft were affected or how long the delays lasted.
What to watch
The aircraft is now with technical staff, and the airline has said it is working out what happens next for the cancelled departure and the passengers removed from the plane. NRK reported that those follow-up arrangements were not yet known.
