A TUI flight headed to Manchester Airport (MAN) was forced to divert to another airport as it ran critically low on fuel following a security incident within the airport that closed its airfield. The aircraft broadcast the “mayday” signal as its fuel supply dropped significantly whilst waiting to land. The security incident was resolved by Greater Manchester Police and involved the arrest of an individual.
Mayday Signal Issued as TUI Flight Runs Low on Fuel
On Aug. 21, a security incident unfolded which caused major delays and disruption to the operations at Manchester Airport. It also resulted in one flight declaring an in-flight emergency following a fuel shortage whilst waiting to land.
Flight BY439, a TUI-operated flight from Aristides Pereira International Airport (PEI) in Cape Verde, was due to touch down at Manchester Airport at approximately 11.30pm on Aug. 21, when a security incident halted all operations at the airport, including preventing approaching aircraft from landing. When the incident was reported, the aircraft was abruptly told to enter a holding pattern above the airport by air traffic control (ATC).
This was one of several flights to be affected by the security incident, with 17 confirmed flights delayed by the incident, many of which were also left in a holding pattern whilst the incident was resolved. A further seven aircraft were diverted to alternative airports in England.
These diversions included three TUI flights diverted to East Midlands Airport (EMA); one Ryanair flight and one easyJet flight diverted to Birmingham Airport (BHX); an easyJet flight diverted to Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL); and a Jet2 flight diverted to Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA).
Flight BY439 joined the holding pattern at 6,000 feet above the Peak District, according to data from AirNav Radar, when the aircraft broadcasted a squawk code 7700 that was received by ATC around 20 minutes after the plane had begun circling the holding pattern. The plane’s crew were forced to issue the broadcast signal after fuel levels dropped dangerously low whilst waiting for clearance to land.
The 7700 squawk code is declared when an aircraft is experiencing an in-flight emergency that requires immediate handling. It also acts as a “mayday” signal for ATC to assist the aircraft in making an emergency landing as soon as possible.
In response to the signal, ATC directed the Boeing 737 MAX to East Midlands Airport where the plane touched down just after midnight. Fortunately, the aircraft was able to be refuelled at EMA before departing for Manchester Airport just over an hour later.
Flight BY439 successfully touched down at MAN after an 18-minute journey from EMA at approximately 1.35 a.m. following the reopening of the airport’s airfield.
The Manchester Evening News reported that Angela Slater, a passenger on the flight, posted on Facebook after her experience:
“Should have landed around 11.30pm instead [it was] 1.30am-ish, got home at 3.30am. But the flight [crew and captain] were amazing, kept us informed as much as they could and did what they had to do in a crazy situation. We didn’t have enough fuel to stay up in the air for an unguaranteed time. Think we did about 7 laps before diverting. Never ever seen so many planes up in the sky when actually been on a flight before.”
Late-Night Security Incident Leaves Planes Unable to Land
The incident that caused the significant level of disruption at Manchester Airport has been confirmed as a security breach that took place on the evening of Friday, Aug. 21 in which an individual was reported to be “encroaching” onto the airfield.
Greater Manchester Police said officers were called to the airport after reports of a male who was “airside” at the airport Friday evening, at around 11.20 p.m.
The incident resulted in MAN closing its airspace for around 15 minutes during which time the incident was successfully dealt with by Greater Manchester Police. Despite the short time frame of the incident, serious delays were caused as flights were unable to safely land and had a ripple effect on flights scheduled to arrive in later time slots.
Greater Manchester Police have also confirmed that a 17-year-old individual was detained at the scene under the Mental Health Act. He was transported from the airport to hospital by police officers.
Have you ever been on a flight that was diverted to another airport? Let us know in the comments below.
