The pilots of a Ryanair flight with 171 passengers on board declared a 'MAYDAY' alert for low fuel before touching down at Manchester Airport after three aborted landings at two other airports, a new report reveals.
The flight - which was caught up in Storm Amy in October last year - finally landed at Manchester 'with a fuel quantity significantly below the final reserve fuel', adds the report.
It says the pilots were 'increasingly concerned' about the level of fuel and the third failed landing prompted the declaration of a 'MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY FUEL' alert to air traffic control - and the 'request for an immediate diversion to Manchester'.
"There was no further discussion by the pilots about the expected fuel remaining on arrival at Manchester, except that they realised they would not have enough fuel for another go-around," says the report compiled after an investigation. An earlier request to divert to Manchester was refused after a 'breakdown of communication', it adds.
Following what was described as a 'serious incident', a report by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) into what happened has now been published.
Pilots aborted two landings
The Boeing 737-800 plane, with six crew also on board, was on a scheduled flight from Pisa International Airport in Italy to Glasgow Prestwick Airport on a day when 'significant winds had been forecast' due to Storm Amy. Extra fuel was pumped into the plane as a result.
The plane twice tried to land at Prestwick but two 'windshear escape manoeuvres' led to the pilots carrying out go-arounds.
A go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft on final approach, or one which has already touched down. It's a standard landing procedure to take a plane around for another go at approaching a runway. Pilots are often forced to use the procedure if they experience a late, sudden gust of wind.
The reports says following the two go-arounds, the crew requested a diversion to Manchester Airport but it 'was not accepted'. The plane then diverted to Edinburgh Airport but the pilot again couldn't land and reported a 'further windshear escape manoeuvre'.
The emergency was then declared and the plane was flown to Manchester, where it landed safely but seriously low on fuel.
"Following this serious incident, Manchester Airport reiterated to stakeholders its policy of accepting diversion requests if the airport has the capacity to receive the aircraft and that the decision on accepting the diversion does not rest with the handling agent," said the AAIB in its report.
'Breakdown of communication' in Manchester Airport
Investigators said a 'breakdown of communication' within Manchester Airport led to the first diversion request being refused. In conclusion, the AAIB said: "Although the airport and handling agent policies at Manchester meant that the diversion should have been accepted, a breakdown of communication within the airport led to it being refused.
"The aircraft diverted instead to Edinburgh, where the crew was required to perform another windshear escape manoeuvre.
"The pilots were concerned that if they remained at Edinburgh there was a possibility that their low fuel state and the wind conditions could mean they no option other than to fly through a windshear warning while on approach. They calculated that if they diverted to Manchester, they would land with between 500 and 700kg of fuel, and, subsequently, the flight management system calculated the expected arrival fuel to be 300kg.
"Both calculations meant that the aircraft would land below the final reserve fuel of 1,100 kg, but the commander considered the safest option was to divert to Manchester where the aircraft landed with 363kg."
The report says the pilots were 'increasingly concerned about the decreasing fuel situation' and 'seemed convinced that they would get another windshear warning at Edinburgh'.
The flight - FR3418 - departed from Pisa Airport in Italy, also known as the Galileo Galilei International Airport, on October 3 last year. At the time, Storm Amy hit northern and western Europe, bringing high winds and weather warnings. It departed at 3.28pm and landed at Manchester at 7.52pm.
Manc.hester Airport, in response, said it noted the contents of the report and was evaluating its contents.
The Manchester Evening News has approached Ryanair for comment.
