The Ryanair plane, Flight FR5578, took off before 5 a.m. and was scheduled to land in the Scottish capital at around 8 a.m., when it issued a 700 squawk code, signalling an emergency onboard. The pilot declared the emergency around two hours into the journey.
Ryanair flight forced to make emergency landing in Scotland
Emergency squawks are used to identify an aircraft that may have an issue which enables it to have priority over other air traffic. This could be, for example, a medical emergency onboard or even an aircraft technical fault. The alert was issued as it flew over Dumfries and Galloway at around 7:20 a.m..
The plane flying from Alicante, Spain and was travelling north at around 20,000 ft in the air at the time. After the emergency was declared, the flight continued its flight up north towards Edinburgh. It then landed safely at the Edinburgh Airport (EDI) at 7:40 a.m. without incident and was met with pre-arranged emergency medical teams.
Airline confirms diversion and priorities passenger safety
Ryanair told The Scottish Sun that the alert was issued after a passenger fell ill on the plane. Pilots requested medical assistance when they were arriving at the airport.
A spokesperson for the airline said:
“The crew on this flight from Alicante to Edinburgh (1 May) called ahead for medical assistance to meet the aircraft upon landing at Edinburgh Airport after a passenger became ill onboard.
“The passenger disembarked and was met by medics.”
The Boeing 737 MAX8 was due to arrive at EDI at 8 a.m., the flight continued north towards the airport.
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