A Ryanair flight came within six minutes of “running out of fuel” in the air as it tried to land during Storm Amy, according to reports.
The passenger jet had been heading to Glasgow’s Prestwick Airport from Pisa in Italy last Friday but was forced to make an emergency landing in Manchester after calling a “fuel Mayday”.
The flight had made several unsuccessful attempts to land at Prestwick as well as trying to land at Edinburgh Airport, the Daily Mail reports.
Storm Amy brought “extremely damaging” winds on the day of the flight, with gusts of almost 100mph recorded in some exposed coastal areas.
Alexander Marchi, who was on board the flight described how the plane “pulled up very sharply” as it attempted to land.
He told Scottish newspaper 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.
"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.
"Everyone was calm until the descent; we were being buffeted around a lot and jumping. There were a few worried people on the second descent as we could feel the plane was struggling.”
Mr Marchi also described how passengers were left in shock as the pilot told them he was going to try to land at Edinburgh instead, but they faced similar issues.
He added: "There was turbulence over the Firth of Forth and then as we approached the airport, as we were very close to landing, again we had to pull up sharply.
"People were very worried as the sound of the plane sharply pulling up was dramatic."
Mr Marchi explained that people did not realise how bad things were until they finally landed at Manchester “with almost no fuel”.
He praised staff on board the plane and explained they finally reached their destination 10 hours late as they were forced to take a coach for the final part of their journey.
The flight finally landed safely in Manchester almost two hours after its first attempt to land at Prestwick.
The cockpit crew of the flight, operated by Malta Air on behalf of Ryanair, had issued a 7700 squawk code, a general emergency alert, while in the air.
The flight reportedly landed with only enough fuel for around five or six minutes of flying time - roughly 220kg of fuel.
A Ryanair spokesperson told the Standard: “Ryanair reported this to the relevant authorities on Friday (3 Oct).
“As this is now subject of an ongoing investigation, which we are cooperating fully with, we are unable to comment.”
