A RYANAIR plane was struck by ‘severe turbulence’ on Sunday afternoon (28 December) and was forced to return to England. Some passengers were injured.
Flight RFR1121 took off from Birmingham Airport just after 3pm, bound for Tenerife’s southern ‘Reina Sofia’ landing-spot.
Forty minutes after take-off, when the 737 aircraft had climbed to 37,000 feet and was passing over the French town of Morlaix (near Brest), it flew into heavy turbulence.
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The captain immediately reduced altitude to 10,000 feet and changed direction, heading out over the English Channel. This manoeuvre is usually performed when cabin pressure has been compromised, but Ryanair has – so far – said nothing about this.
Given reports that some passengers had received injuries, the crew took the decision to return to the UK.
Ninety minutes after taking off, the plane landed without further incident back at Birmingham.
A Ryanair spokesman said that “a small number” of travellers received medical assistance.
Passengers were able to resume their travel plans later that evening. A replacement plane arrived from Leeds Bradford Airport, and the FR1121 complement boarded and took off at 9.20pm.
The flight was perfectly normal, and landed safely in Tenerife at 1.30 on Monday morning.
Click here to read more Tenerife News from The Olive Press.
