A Jet2 flight from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Palma de Mallorca Airport was diverted to Manchester Airport on Thursday morning after a suspected bird strike. The flight, EXS32DW, had taken off at 8am and was at 12,000ft when it changed direction near Shrewsbury, according to Flightradar24. Passengers landed safely but were delayed.
Passenger account of the incident
A passenger travelling to Palma with his wife, brother and sister-in-law told The ECHO: "There was a sudden vibration and more noise than normal as soon as we took off. We felt the vibrations, we felt something." He added: "It wasn't enough to alarm anyone, but we noticed a change, we noticed something wasn't right. Everyone was calm, we didn't speak about it, but everyone knew something was going on."
Around 15 minutes into the flight, the captain announced there was an issue. The passenger said: "The pilot said he believed it was a bird strike and that we would need to land and check it out. We turned around to Manchester and landed safely."
How in-flight emergencies are communicated
In UK and international aviation, in-flight emergencies are communicated through standardised systems, including radio distress and urgency calls, transponder squawk codes, and cockpit warning systems. These are governed by UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) requirements and international standards.
Radio distress and urgency calls
Mayday (repeated three times) indicates a distress situation involving grave and imminent danger requiring immediate assistance, such as fire, structural failure, or an emergency landing. Pan-Pan (repeated three times) indicates an urgency situation with a serious safety concern that does not involve grave or imminent danger, such as certain technical malfunctions.
Transponder squawk codes
- Squawk 7500: Unlawful interference, including hijacking.
- Squawk 7600: Radio communication failure.
- Squawk 7700: General emergency requiring immediate attention.
Cockpit alert systems
Modern aircraft have integrated alerting systems like ECAM on Airbus and EICAS on other types. Alerts include lower-level advisories, caution alerts (requiring attention), and warning alerts (serious conditions requiring immediate action, such as fire or depressurisation). The exact terminology varies by aircraft type.
