A pilot flying to Stansted Aiport told passengers he had to divert because he was not qualified to land in fog.

The routine no frills Go flight, from Newcastle, was due to land at Stansted airport on Friday evening, but had to be diverted 100 miles to Nottingham.

The plan landed at fog-free East Midlands airport, where another pilot took over the Boeing 737 allowing the journey to be completed three hours late.

A spokesman for Go said there was never any danger to the 92 passengers and the incident was only caused by a technicality.

He added there was another fully qualified pilot in the cabin all the time.

Captain Ed Winter, chief operating officer at Go, said to land in conditions were visibility is less than 350 metres pilots must be Category Three qualified.

He said the airline only recruited pilots with this qualification, but under Civil Aviation Authority regulations pilots joining Go had to retrain on its own aircraft.

Capt Winter said: "Go's number one priority is the safety of its passengers and crew. We train our pilots to the rigorous standards set out by the CAA, who have exactly the same rules for all airlines."

He said there had been no fog forecast.

Published Monday, March 25, 2002