A Ryanair flight destined for Tenerife had to turn back to the UK after declaring an emergency while in flight. The Boeing 737 MAX departed from Birmingham Airport around 2:50 pm and signaled a 7700 squawk over Brittany, France, after reaching 35,000 feet, indicating a general emergency. Ryanair confirmed that flight FR1121 encountered “air turbulence.”
According to reports from passengers to The Aviation Herald, the turbulence occurred during cabin service, resulting in injuries to several individuals. The flight made a U-turn and descended to 10,000 feet.
After departing, the plane safely landed back at Birmingham approximately one hour and 32 minutes later. AirLive mentioned that the aircraft was parked at a remote stand on the airport premises for paramedics to assist the passengers.
The severity of the injuries sustained by passengers is currently unknown. Ryanair stated to the Mirror that the incident involved flight FR1121 from Birmingham to Tenerife on December 28, which returned to Birmingham Airport shortly after take-off due to air turbulence. The affected passengers received medical assistance before continuing their journey to Tenerife at 9:06 pm local time.
This incident follows a previous occurrence involving a United Airlines flight that had to divert to Edinburgh on December 4 due to an onboard emergency. The flight, bound for San Francisco, took off from London at 2:05 pm, issued a 7700 squawk, and landed in Edinburgh around 4:40 pm after turning back while flying north across the North Atlantic.
United Airlines informed the Mirror that the diversion was prompted by a burning smell, and passengers were accommodated in hotels and rebooked on alternative flights to their destinations. The flight had 162 passengers on board.