Manchester Airport: Ryanair plane surrounded by fire engines at UK airport after emergency landing
A Ryanair plane was surrounded by fire engines after it dramatically returned to Manchester Airport an hour after taking off.
The aircraft was initially en route to Agadir in Morocco but unexpectedly changed course shortly after. An issue forced the pilot to reroute north west over Wigan, making nine loops above the area at around just 1,500m above the ground.
It then safely returned to Manchester roughly an hour later, landing at about 5pm with fire crews awaiting its arrival. Now the budget airline has come forward with an explanation following the emergency landing on Sunday, March 16.
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Ryanair announced that a 'minor technical issue' prompted the unscheduled return, and reassurances have been given that passengers were swiftly transferred onto another plane for their journey. A spokesperson for the airline confirmed: "This flight from Manchester to Agadir (Sunday, 16 Mar) returned to Manchester shortly after take-off due to a minor technical issue. The aircraft landed normally at Manchester Airport and passengers disembarked."
The spokesperson also detailed their rapid response to minimise inconvenience: "To minimise disruption to affected passengers, we quickly arranged for a replacement aircraft to operate this flight, which departed to Agadir at 5.05pm local that same day. We sincerely apologise to affected passengers for any inconvenience caused", reports the Manchester Evening News.