Man dies in crash with fire service car on 999 call to JLA

Jan 19 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

A MAN was killed after a car crash involving a fire service vehicle answering a 999 call at Liverpool John Lennon Airport

The search and rescue car had been travelling towards JLA to respond to a possible emergency landing.

A Merseyside fire service vehicle collided with two cars just after 11.40am on Garston Way.

The middle-aged man who died was driving one of the cars and his male passenger sustained serious injuries.

Three firefighters suffered minor injuries in the crash and were taken to Whiston Hospital.

The fire service vehicle was responding to reports an Easyjet plane travelling from Belfast to London Stansted was making an emergency landing at JLA as it was low on fuel.

A spokesman for Easyjet insisted the diversion was due to high winds but Robbie Barrigan, a spokesman for Stansted, said: "There are high winds around Stansted but we are not transferring any aircraft. We have been accepting traffic diverted from other airports."

The plane landed safely at JLA and was due to be inspected by safety experts.

Easyjet laid on coaches for passengers to take them on to London.