Ryanair flight FR5552 left London Stansted airport at 6.21am yesterday morning but declared an emergency and turned back, reportedly following a medical issue on board
A Ryanair flight heading from the UK to Portugal declared a mid-air emergency moments after take-off.
Flight FR5552 left London Stansted airport at 6.21am yesterday, heading for Faro, but had to turn back shortly after passing over northern France.
And it appears that rather than returning to the busy airspace of London Stansted, the flight crew decided to divert to Bournemouth Airport.
It was around 45 minutes into the journey, that a Squawk 7700 (the international signal for a general emergency) was made leading to a quick descent.
The Ryanair plane could be seen on radar tracking make a sharp turn and lose height as it headed to the English coast and Bournemouth Airport.
It landed safely in Bournemouth just over an hour after its initial departure and it is reported by AirLive that there was a medical issue on board.
When a pilot enters the four-digit emergency code 7700 into their transponder, it immediately alerts air traffic control that the aircraft is in distress and requires priority handling. But the nature of the incident is unclear as it acts as a “catch-all” for any emergency situation that isn’t a hijacking (7500) or radio failure (7600).
The Mirror has contacted Ryanair for comment.
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