Emergency Landing
A Ryanair plane was forced to make an emergency landing after running out of fuel within minutes of the flight. The Boeing 737-800 was en route from Pisa, Italy, to Glasgow, Scotland, on October 3 when crew members realized they were almost out of fuel and declared a "fuel mayday."
The Incident
“Everything was fine until we began our descent,” said a passenger. The plane reportedly only had 80 gallons of fuel left when it landed – enough for 5-6 minutes of flight time. This incident occurred at the same time as Storm Amy devastated parts of Scotland with winds of 100mph, disrupting the country’s transport network and leading to the cancellation of several flights, rail and ferry services.
Attempts to Land
The pilots made several attempts to land at Prestwick Airport in Glasgow, but were unsuccessful as the aircraft was hit by severe turbulence. They then attempted to land at Edinburgh Airport, but were also unsuccessful. “The second time it was a very bumpy ride and we almost reached the asphalt, but at the last moment we stopped very sharply,” recalled a passenger. "Everyone was calm until the descent; we got pushed around a lot and jumped. On the second descent there were a few worried people as we felt the plane was having problems."
Safe Landing
At this point the pilots decided to take a detour to Manchester and landed safely at Manchester almost two hours after their first landing attempt. “After seeing the pictures after we finally landed in Manchester with almost no fuel, we realized how bad the situation had been,” said a passenger. "The relief was great. People wanted to get out and definitely didn’t feel like flying that fast."
Investigation
A Ryanair spokesman said that the airline had since reported the incident to the “relevant authorities”. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has launched an investigation into the fiasco and AAIB inspectors had "begun investigating and gathering evidence".
Fuel Emergency Procedures
In the unlikely event that a plane runs out of fuel in mid-air, pilots must declare an emergency by saying "MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY FUEL," at which point ATC will give the aircraft "top priority." The use of "Mayday" is crucial to a possible fuel problem, as it alerts ATC to the emergency and ensures the aircraft is given priority. Aviation regulations require that the final reserve fuel – defined as “the absolute minimum fuel required to keep an aircraft safely aloft” – must not be less than 30 minutes.
