London airport reopens after aborted takeoff injures eight passengers

March 2 (UPI) -- Stansted Airport in London reopened after flights were grounded for two hours because of an aborted flight on takeoff that caused minor injuries to eight people.

Shortly after 8 p.m. Friday, a Laudamotion airlines flight to Vienna aborted a takeoff because of a suspected engine problem. The 169 people on board evacuated via emergency slides.

In addition, incoming flights were diverted to other airports.

"The crew of OE flight from Stansted to Vienna decided to abort the take off due to engine issues and to disembark the passengers on the runway as a precautionary measure," Loudamotion airline posted on Twitter. "Passengers were transferred to the terminal by bus and will be reaccommodated onto a replacement flight.

Passenger Thomas Steer said after 15 seconds of accelerating there was a "big bang on the side of the aircraft which skidded to a stop," in a BBC report.

He said: "It was scary. And then staff shouting 'evacuate evacuate.' "

Jana, another traveler, said flight attendants "panicked" and it was "scary" going down the emergency slide.

"Flights at STN-Airport are currently suspended due to an aircraft on the runway following an aborted take off due to a suspected engine problem," London Stansted Airport posted on Twitter.

The airport returned to normalcy.

"Our runway has now re-opened and is fully operational," London Stansted Airport later posted on Twitter. "We are extremely sorry for the disruption caused by the incident, but our first priority is always the safety of passengers & staff."

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch sent a team to Stansted to investigate the incident, the Independent reported.