The passenger plane was on final approach when it was forced to divert to a nearby airport at the last minute after debris from a damaged jet engine closed the runway at Nantes Atlantique Airport
A Ryanair passenger plane was forced to declare an emergency and make an unscheduled landing after running dangerously low on fuel in mid-air.
Ryanair flight FR5448 took off from Sevilla in Spain at 5:25pm local time yesterday (4:25pm UK time) bound for Nantes in France.
The flight went as planned until the aircraft was on its final approach into Nantes Atlantique Airport due to touch down at around 7:10pm local time. However at the last minute the crew were forced to abort the landing following reports of a sudden blockage on the runway after a plane taking off suffered an engine failure.
A flight headed for Madrid had experienced an engine failure during full thrust shortly after take off with one of its two engines shut down. This was reportedly likely due to debris from a tire that burst during take off.
The aircraft was forced to loop back and land on the runway, which then had to be inspected for debris.
The pilots climbed back up to 7,000 feet and initiated a go-around manoeuvre, where the plane abandons its landing and repositions to attempt a safe landing later or divert to another airport.
In this instance the air traffic control at Nantes told the pilots to enter a holding pattern, with the aircraft descending and circling at 4,000 feet for several minutes. All the while the passenger plane was burning fuel and as the situation on the runway failed to clear, drastic action became necessary.
Facing dwindling fuel reserves after the unexpected extra flight time, the captain officially declared a fuel emergency. The crew quickly initiated an emergency climb to 20,000 feet and the plane was given priority vectoring directly toward Brest by air traffic controllers on the ground.
The passenger plane touched down safely at Brest airport on the far western tip of the Brittany peninsula exactly 2 hours and 40 minutes after its initial departure from Seville.
The disruption to the runway at Nantes Atlantique Airport left air traffic controllers scrambling to manage incoming aircraft. All flights scheduled to land at Nantes had to be diverted to neighbouring airports while the blockage was cleared.
Experts finished inspecting the tarmac for debris from the damaged jet engine at around 10:30pm – by that time flight operations had been suspended for four hours. Debris was found on the runway. Air traffic eventually resumed taking off and landing at around 11pm local time.
In a statement to the Mirror Ryanair said: “This flight from Seville to Nantes (6 Jul) diverted to Brest following the unexpected closure of Nantes Airport’s runway.
“As a result of the diversion, the flight crew requested priority handling into Brest to facilitate a timely arrival. The aircraft landed safely with fuel levels remaining above final reserve fuel and in compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements.
“Passengers remained onboard the aircraft and departed for Nantes at 23:10 local time.”
