The Thomas Cook flight from Manchester to Cuba (Picture: Eamonn and James Clarke)

A Cuba bound flight was pictured returning to Manchester Airport with part of its left wing missing.

The Thomas Cook plane touched down safely in Manchester at approximately 3pm, with airport officials confirming it had returned over Ireland after setting off at 12.20pm.

Pictures showed the plane was missing a section of its left wing – but the company say it turned back due to a low oil alert and was safe and legal to fly.

Thomas Cook said a ‘suspected technical fault’ had forced the plane to come back to Manchester Airport but it was unable to explain what had exactly happened to the wing.

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The plane’s left wing tip had broken off (Picture: Eamonn and James Clarke)
A closer look at the tip (Picture: Eamonn and James Clarke)

The plane had been delayed in the UK before it took off this morning and was originally meant to leave at 9.55am.

The flight was meant to touch down in Hoguin, Cuba, at 2.35pm (7.35pm UK time).

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Thomas Cook said the plane did not have to perform an emergency landing (Picture: Eamonn and James Clarke)

A spokesperson for Thomas Cook said: ‘Thomas Cook Airlines flight MT2652 to Holguin returned to Manchester as a precaution after a low oil indication, unrelated to the wing.

‘Safety always comes first and the aircraft will undergo a full safety check before returning to service.

‘We are sorry to our customers for the delay and will get them back on the way as soon as possible.’

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