A Ryanair flight operating from Pisa, Italy (PSA) to Prestwick, Scotland (PIK), was forced to make an emergency landing because of extremely low fuel during Storm Amy last week, The Telegraph reported. The Boeing 737 plane was reportedly "six minutes" away from running out of fuel.
The pilots of flight FR3418 made a mayday emergency call. They had two failed landing attempts at Glasgow Prestwick airport, followed by a third abortive try at Edinburgh. They finally landed at Manchester (MAN) after multiple go-arounds.
As per a Daily Express report, the aircraft landed with just 220 kilograms of fuel remaining - a critically low amount, as it was around "six minutes" from running out of fuel. The flight ended up airborne for 4 hours and 23 minutes, much longer than the typical 2 hours and 20 minutes for this route.
As quoted, a spokesman for the airline said, "Ryanair reported this to the relevant authorities on Friday (Oct 3). As this is now subject of an ongoing investigation, which we are co-operating fully with, we are unable to comment."
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Storm Amy's wrath
The storm brought winds approaching 100 miles per hour in parts of England, which might have contributed to challenging landing conditions. As per the media outlet, the weather instruments at Prestwick recorded gusts above 50mph around the time when the plane was trying to land for the first time. Other flights were also disrupted by Storm Amy; Lufthansa and Norwegian also diverted flights from Edinburgh that day.
A person named Alexander Marchi, who was on the plane, told the Ayr Advertiser: "After leaving late from Pisa because of a general strike and protesters invading the tarmac at the airport we were worried that we wouldn't get to Prestwick before the storm hit."
"Everything was fine until we started our descent."
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Why was it flying on low fuel?
Ryanair is known for loading limited fuel as a cost-saving strategy. However, citing a source, The Telegraph reported that the 737 should have been carrying at least 30 minutes' worth of fuel, which is about 1,200kg, when it landed as per EU aviation safety rules, also applied to Ireland-based Ryanair.
The Air Accidents Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is reviewing the incident, with Ryanair cooperating. As quoted, a spokesman for the AAIB said: "The AAIB has commenced an investigation into a serious incident involving an aircraft which was diverted from Prestwick to Manchester Airport on Friday, Oct 3."
"AAIB Inspectors have begun making enquiries and gathering evidence."
