easyJet flights: Flight squawks 7700 emergency code over 'smell of spoke in cockpit' and returns back to Bristol Airport

The flight raised the emergency code today (Thursday 2 January) as it made its way to Marrakech from Bristol Airport. The Airbus flight U22963 was forced to return back to Bristol Airport due to the “smell of smoke”.

The page FlightEmergency on X, formerly Twitter, posted: “Returned to Bristol due to smell of smoke in the cockpit”. The flight departed Bristol on time at 10:15 GMT for a three-hour flight to Marrakech.

A bit more than 30 minutes into the flight, the aircraft turned around over Brittany and pilots declared an emergency (squawk 7700). The aircraft landed on runway 09 at Bristol Airport.

According to AirLive, a new aircraft is now supposed to leave Bristol Airport departing at 14:30. An easyJet spokesperson told NationalWorld: “easyJet can confirm that flight EZY2963 from Bristol to Marrakesh today returned to Bristol shortly after take-off due to a technical issue. The aircraft landed normally and was met by emergency services as a routine and precautionary measure.

“Passengers disembarked into the terminal where we provided refreshments and a replacement aircraft and crew were arranged to continue the flight which departed this afternoon. The safety of our customers and crew is easyJet's highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all manufacturers’ guidelines. We would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.”