A Ryanair flight from Edinburgh to Marrakesh was diverted to Birmingham Airport on 13 September after a passenger fell ill on board. The aircraft, flight RK514, departed Edinburgh at 7.22am and landed at Birmingham at 8.15am, roughly one hour into the journey.
Paramedics meet aircraft on arrival
Paramedics met the plane upon landing, and the passenger was offloaded for further treatment. Their condition has not been disclosed.
Flight tracking data shows the Boeing 737-8AS had reached the south coast of England and was heading over the Channel when it turned back towards the mainland. The aircraft flew over Fowey, Davidstow and Marhamchurch in Cornwall on its way to Birmingham, then over Rubery, Redditch and Bromsgrove before descending to the airport.
Ryanair statement on diversion
A Ryanair spokesperson said: "This flight from Edinburgh to Marrakesh (13 Sep) diverted to Birmingham after a passenger onboard became ill. The aircraft was met by paramedics upon landing at Birmingham Airport, and the passenger was offloaded for further treatment."
It is not known whether the pilot transmitted a 7700 squawk code, which signals a general emergency and alerts air traffic control that the aircraft requires priority handling. The code serves as a catch-all for emergencies that are not a hijacking (7500) or radio failure (7600).
Similar incident on Lufthansa flight
The incident follows a Lufthansa flight bound for Washington DC that declared a mid-air emergency over the UK on 12 September. Lufthansa Flight LH418, an Airbus A340-600, left Frankfurt at 1.30pm local time and issued a 7700 alert over northern Scotland about two hours into the journey, at around 34,000ft.
Flight tracking data shows the aircraft descended from cruising altitude and diverted to Glasgow Airport, landing on runway 23. The flight had initially appeared to be heading towards Dublin Airport, where emergency ground crews were reportedly on standby.
