A Thomas Cook A320 flight from Cyprus had landed heavily at the airport during strong winds in November 2006.

The next day it was allowed to take off for Lanzarote, but the wheels failed to retract and the plane was diverted.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has recommended tighter safety procedures.

The captain on the Lanzarote flight had noted the hard-landing report from the previous day.

External inspection

"No defects were noted during the external inspection of the aircraft prior to the flight," the report said.

After take off for Lanzarote the landing gear would not retract and the plane diverted to Manchester.

It was later released for a non-revenue ferry flight to Bristol, but after take off, the landing gear failed to retract and the plane had to return to Manchester.

It was only after this final landing at Manchester that the landing gear damage was eventually discovered.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said the engineers maintaining the aircraft at Bristol had not received adequate training in the use of the computer software supporting the operator's aircraft manuals.

In a statement, Thomas Cook Airlines said: "The AAIB report clearly indicates that the engineers involved in the incident in 2006 believed that they were following the correct procedures in the aircraft manufacturer's manual.

"The report does highlight amendments that need to be made to this manual to avoid such an issue in the future and we'd like to reassure passengers that their health and safety is of paramount importance to us.