A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 with 186 people on board was on final approach to Palermo’s runway 07 descending through about 1000 feet MSL. Turbulent weather conditions were present when the crew initiated a go around. The captain subsequently reported the first officer had become ill, the captain decided to divert to Trapani located about 35nm southwest of Palermo.
The aircraft landed safely on Trapani’s runway 31L about 35 minutes later. The first officer was taken to a local hospital. EI-DWR was the aircraft performing flight FR-3918 from London Stansted, EN (UK) to Palermo (Italy)
Italian media report that the first officer hit his head, but it is still unclear whether the first officer hit his head because of the turbulent approach.
The return flight FR-3919 needed to be postponed to the next morning, a replacement Boeing 737-800 registration EI-GJX reached Stansted with a delay of about 11 hours.
The occurrence aircraft remained in Trapani for 19.5 hours, then returned to service.
On Aug 27th 2018 the airline reported the first officer briefly fainted, the captain diverted the aircraft to Trapani. The first officer was examined at the hospital and released shortly afterwards without suffering ill effects.
