RYANAIR has issued a statement after one of its flights was forced into making an emergency landing at Bristol Airport over the weekend.
The airline confirmed that one of its Boeing 737 aircraft, which was flying from Porto in Portugal to Manchester, made an unscheduled landing at Bristol on Friday evening (August 20).
Shortly before 11pm, the aircraft declared an emergency while flying over the English Channel, issuing a 7700 squawk – which alerted air traffic control of an issue on board.
As a result, the flight was diverted to a nearer airport – touching down at Bristol Airport.
In a statement sent to the Argus, a spokeswoman for the airline confirmed that the emergency was called after a passenger became ill on board.
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It has been revealed that the crew called ahead to request medical assistance, and after landing normally, the aircraft was met on ground by medics.
Around 30 minutes after touching down in Bristol, the flight was able to continue on to its intended destination, landing at Manchester Airport shortly after midnight on Saturday (August 21).
According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, having spent much of the journey at 38,000 feet, the Boeing 737 fairly rapidly descended, before touching down earlier than expected in Bristol, rather than continuing on to Manchester.
It is believed that it landed at around 11pm on Friday, touching down on runway 27.
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Statement from Ryanair in full
A spokeswoman for Ryanair told the Argus: “This flight from Porto to Manchester (20 Aug) diverted to Bristol after a passenger became ill on board.
“The crew called ahead to request medical assistance upon arrival, the aircraft landed normally and the passenger disembarked and was met by medics for further treatment.
“The aircraft departed for Manchester a short time later.
“Ryanair apologises to all customers for this short delay.”
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