Experts at George Best Belfast City Airport are investigating whether turbulence from a passing aircraft could have lifted tiles from a house at the weekend.

Residents in the area around the airport have claimed that a low-flying aircraft was behind the incident on Sunday afternoon.

But after a probe, the airport said there had been no evidence of aircraft flying too low in the area.

“All aircraft approaching the runway from the city direction during or around the time of the alleged incident did so in a uniform manner and nothing was untoward in the angle of approach nor height of the aircraft, all in accordance with strict Civil Aviation Authority regulations,” a statement from the airport last night said.

“This evidence is corroborated by a secondary radar which the airport installed, at considerable expense and in response to campaigners’ calls.”

However, the airport has admitted that it cannot rule out the possibility that turbulence from a passing plane might have caused the tiles to dislodge.

“I think it’s a possibility that aircraft can create turbulence within the air,” said Mark Beattie, airport operations manager.

“From the point of view of whether it was or wasn’t... I think it has (been known) and if you look throughout the industry there are potential examples of this type of thing. I don’t think at this stage we could be conclusive.”

Among those affected in the incident were Katrin Irvine (39) who said around 30 tiles had been lifted off the roof of her house close to the Sydenham bypass on Sunday. She said she was still waiting for repair work to be carried out on the home she shares with her young daughter.

“I’m all right now, yesterday I was quite shaken when I was thinking about it,” she told the Belfast Telegraph.

“If you take things in that much you wouldn’t go out of your house any more. I hope that it doesn't happen again or cause us any serious accidents.”

She described how she had been at her home on Sunday afternoon when she heard what sounded like an explosion.

“I looked outside and saw the neighbours running out with their phones in their hands,” she said.

“Everybody was looking up at my house and I saw all the tiles lying around. My daughter was outside playing with other kids across the road. If they had been in the garden next door it could have been very dangerous.”

Ms Irvine said she hoped her roof would be repaired before the good weather breaks.

“It hasn't been raining luckily, the weather has been good,” she said. “I hope it is repaired before the rain comes.”

South Belfast SDLP MP Dr Alasdair McDonnell said the incident could have had “potentially fatal consequences”.

He said: “Aviation traffic has caused serious disruption for people living in south and east Belfast for some time and this incident further emphasises the need for a public enquiry to be carried out into the expansion of the runway at Belfast City Airport.

“The extension of this runway would inevitably lead to an increase in the number and frequency of flights into the airport. However the current flight traffic already poses serious safety and environmental problems for residents.”