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Sir Elton John breaks silence after terrifying plane ordeal

His private jet was forced to carry out an emergency landing

elton john solemn
Gemma Strong
Online Digital News Director
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Sir Elton John suffered a scary ordeal this week as he headed to New York to perform at Madison Square Gardens.

MORE: 10 rare photos of Elton John's children with husband David Furnish

His private plane suffered hydraulic failure at 10,000ft, the Sun reports, and had to twice abort landing on a day that winds hit 80mph.

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Shortly after 10am on Tuesday, Sir Elton, 74, left Farnborough Airport in Hampshire, but about an hour into the trip the pilot had to make a U-turn while approaching the coast of southern Ireland.

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The private jet then returned to Farnborough, where ambulance crews, firefighters and police were on alert.

elton john plane

Sir Elton's plane was forced to carry out an emergency landing (seen in 2019)

Eyewitness Philip Thomson saw the incident and told the publication: "The terrible weather and epic gusts made it almost impossible to land. Two attempts to touch down failed."

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Philip further explained that the plane was being buffeted by the wind, before the pilot attempted to descend for the first time. It was halfway along the runway when it gave up and had to soar back up into the air.

elton john david furnish

The musician with his husband, David Furnish

The pilot then brought the plane around for a second attempt at landing - but by that point the storm was at its worst. "The airport's windsock was horizontal and the aircraft was being rocked from side to side by the wind," the eyewitness explained.

"The pilot made a valiant attempt to get down with the jet 'crabbing' into the storm. But it didn't make it and had to head back upwards."

elton john family

The couple are the proud parents of two sons

It was only when the pilot attempted to land for the third time that the plane was able to land safely - much to the relief of everyone at the airport.

Thankfully, no one was harmed during the incident – and Sir Elton was able to catch a later flight to perform in New York on schedule. He later took to Twitter to confirm his safe arrival, writing: "Hello New York! See you @TheGarden tonight #eltonfarewelltour."

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