Strong surface winds caused some bumpy aircraft landings at LF Wade International Airport and forced two flights to divert to the US.

Lester Nelson, the chief executive of the Bermuda Airport Authority, said that American Airlines flight AA3210 from New York JFK had to turn back from the island for safety reasons.

The BAA’s Air Traffic Services unit reported that at 11.08am on Sunday, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by American Airlines that arrived from New York was buffeted by strong winds attempting to land on Runway 30 at the airport.

At that time, the Bermuda Weather Service had issued both an airfield warning for strong surface winds and gusts, as well as a wind shear warning with winds from the northeast at 24mph gusting to 39mph.

The pilot of the aircraft performed a go-round because of the difficult conditions on the ground.

After the aircraft attempted a second landing, the flight was diverted safely to JFK Airport and returned and landed safely in Bermuda at 5.08pm.

The pilot of a private aircraft — an Embraer EMB-545 heading to Bermuda from Marsh Harbour Airport in the Bahamas — also chose to divert, and headed to North Carolina without attempting a landing.

The aircraft arrived in Bermuda from the Caribbean island later in the afternoon.

Mr Nelson said that the BAA was responsible for providing air traffic services and aviation weather reports at the airport to support safe operations.

“The pilot in command of each aircraft is ultimately responsible for the safety of their passengers, crew and aircraft,” he added.