A RYANAIR flight from Sevilla to France was plunged into a terrifying mid-air drama after fuel levels dropped dangerously low following a sudden runway closure.
Flight FR5448 was preparing to land at Nantes Atlantique Airport at around 7.10pm on Monday when air traffic controllers ordered the pilots to abort their approach because the runway had become blocked.
The Boeing 737-800, which had departed Sevilla at 5.25pm, was forced to climb away from the airport and enter a holding pattern while officials dealt with the unfolding crisis on the ground, the Mirror reported.
The chaos had been triggered moments earlier when another aircraft taking off from Nantes suffered an engine failure shortly after departure.
The Madrid-bound Air Nostrum flight was forced to return, and airport teams closed the runway to inspect it for debris believed to have been scattered during the incident.
With the Ryanair jet circling and burning fuel while waiting for permission to land, the situation rapidly escalated.
The crew declared a fuel emergency, giving the aircraft priority handling from air traffic control.
The pilots climbed the aircraft to a higher altitude and were diverted towards Brest Bretagne Airport, on the western tip of France’s Brittany region, after controllers cleared the way for an emergency arrival.
The aircraft, registered EI-EBK, landed safely at Brest after spending around two hours and 40 minutes in the air from its departure in Seville. No injuries were reported.
Passengers remained onboard after landing and were later transported onward once the disruption at Nantes was resolved.
Ryanair said the aircraft diverted because of the unexpected closure of Nantes Airport’s runway and that the crew requested priority handling to ensure a safe and timely arrival.
The runway at Nantes remained closed for several hours while specialists searched for debris from the earlier aircraft incident.
Operations eventually resumed later that evening after the obstruction was cleared.
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