Celtic home at last

Celtic were celebrating after enjoying a comfortable victory

Celtic have finally returned to Glasgow after an unexpectedly protracted stay in Lithuania following Wednesday's Champions League qualifier against FBK Kaunas.

Martin O'Neill's men had to spend an extra night in the Baltic country after their aircraft aborted take-off as they attempted to return to Glasgow on Wednesday night.

The Uefa Cup finalists had rushed to the airport following their comfortable 4-0 victory over FBK.

But, as their aircraft sped down the runway, the pilot was forced to take Britannia BY821A back to a standing position.

He informed the passengers, including journalists, that he had abandoned take-off because of a problem with the airspeed readings.

The Boeing 757 came to a sudden and frightening halt as it charged down the runway and Celtic operations manager Ronnie Hawthorn explained to the passengers what was happening.

We have to do this because of safety Celtic operations manager Ronnie Hawthorn

"The air speed indicator wasn't working and so he didn't know what speed he was doing on the runway and aborted take-off," said Hawthorn.

"Many things can cause this, such as a blockage caused by a bird or something simple.

"If it is something simple, the engineer can fix it and we can go again. But if it isn't simple then we will have to stay until it's repaired.

"It's unusual, but we have to do this because of safety."

Celtic ease past Kaunas

Celtic were looking to return for a friendly with Arsenal in Glasgow on Saturday, but they were forced to stay another night in Lithuania.

The incident conjured up memories of Rangers' trip to Paris for Dick Advocaat's last game in charge of the club in December 2001.

They were jetting in to face Paris St Germain in the Uefa Cup when the plane aborted landing as another aircraft sat on the runway.

Manchester United's "Busby Babes" and journalists were killed in Munich in 1958 as they returned home from a European Cup game against Red Star Belgrade having been forced to abort take-off.