Ryanair plane diverts to Manchester after 'almost running out of fuel'

A Ryanair flight was forced to make a dramatic emergency landing after coming within six minutes of "running out of fuel". An investigation has been launched into the incident involving a Malta Air flight, operating on behalf of Ryanair.

The plane was en route from Pisa, Italy, to Prestwick Airport in Glasgow on October 3 when it issued a "fuel Mayday".

The aircraft had to make an emergency landing in Manchester after the cockpit crew issued a 7700 squawk code - the universal signal for a general emergency. Before this, the plane made several unsuccessful attempts to land at both Prestwick and Edinburgh airports.

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Nearly two hours later, it safely touched down in Manchester. Upon landing, the plane had only 220kg of fuel left - enough for just five or six minutes of flying.

Passenger Alexander Marchi revealed that the chaos began even before they took off from Pisa, as protestors managed to storm the tarmac amid a strike.

A passengertold the Ayr Advertiser: "After leaving late from Pisa because of a general strike and protesters invading the tarmac at the airport we were worried that we wouldn't get to Prestwick before the storm hit.

"Everything was fine until we started our descent. The plane was circling a few times before trying the first time but pulling up almost immediately."

More than 40,000 peopletracked the plane as it failed to landat Prestwick before attempting to touch down in Edinburgh, again without success. The flight eventually landed inManchester, with passengers on board eventually reaching South Ayrshire via bus 10 hours late.

Upon landing, the aircraft had just 220kg of fuel remaining in its tank - sufficient for merely five or six minutes of flight time, according to reports.

Passenger Alexander Marchi revealed the mayhem began before they'd even departed from Pisa, as demonstrators managed to breach the runway during industrial action.

He told Ayr Advertiser: "After leaving late from Pisa because of a general strike and protesters invading the tarmac at the airport we were worried that we wouldn't get to Prestwick before the storm hit.

"We were told we would try one more time or we'd have to go to Manchester. The second time it was a very bumpy ride and we almost reached the tarmac, but at the last minute we pulled up very sharply.

"We realised how bad things had been after seeing the images after finally landing at Manchester with almost no fuel. There was a lot of relief.

"People were wanting to get off and definitely were not up for flying any time soon. "

A Ryanair spokesman said: "Ryanair reported this to the relevant authorities on Friday (Oct 3). As this is now subject of an ongoing investigation, which we are cooperating fully with, we are unable to comment."