A Lufthansa flight bound for the United States was forced to divert to Glasgow Airport after declaring a mid-air emergency. The Boeing 747-8 jet, operating flight LH430 from Frankfurt to Chicago, squawked the international emergency code 7700 before crossing the Atlantic, prompting an unscheduled landing in Scotland.
The aircraft carried 358 passengers when it made the unexpected landing. The decision to re-route to Glasgow was made so that an ill passenger could receive urgent medical attention.
Passenger Tended To and Flight Continued
Lufthansa confirmed that the ill passenger was handed over to local medical personnel, the aircraft was refuelled, and the flight then continued on to Chicago. The condition of the traveller is currently unknown.
A Lufthansa spokesperson said: "Today's flight, LH430 from Frankfurt to Chicago with 358 passengers on board, was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Glasgow due to a medical emergency involving a passenger. Due to the medical urgency of the situation, an emergency landing was declared to secure priority landing rights and to get the passenger to an emergency physician as quickly as possible. The Boeing 747-8 landed safely."
Emergency Code Explained
A squawk 7700 is the internationally recognised code used by pilots to alert air traffic control that an aircraft is experiencing an emergency. The code gives the flight priority to land, with emergency services typically deployed as a precaution. It does not indicate the nature of the emergency, which can range from a technical issue to a medical incident. In this case, the diversion was prompted by a passenger medical emergency.
Glasgow International Airport was contacted for comment.
Recent Similar Incidents
This is not the first time this month that a flight has been diverted following a mid-air emergency. A Loganair plane due to fly from Inverness to Manchester at 10.45am on Saturday, August 8, performed a U-turn at 30,000ft after a 7700 emergency code was relayed. Flight radars showed the plane turning back and landing at Glasgow Airport at 11.20am. The nature of that incident was not known at the time of reporting.
Last month, passengers travelling from Glasgow to Lanzarote experienced an unexpected delay after their Jet2 flight was forced to divert to Portugal following a medical emergency on board.
