Lufthansa Boeing 747 declares emergency at 33,000ft over UK, diverts to Glasgow
Lufthansa 747 declares emergency over UK, diverts to Glasgow

A Lufthansa flight to the United States declared an emergency while cruising at around 33,000ft above the UK before diverting to Glasgow.

Flight LH430 had left Frankfurt Airport at midday UK time on Thursday and was heading for Chicago O'Hare International Airport when the aircraft turned back while flying over Scotland.

Emergency declared over Scotland

Around two hours into the nine-hour journey, the Boeing 747-8 made a sharp U-turn while cruising at around 33,000ft before the crew transmitted squawk code 7700, the international aviation code used to signal an emergency.

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The aircraft initially appeared to be heading towards Dublin Airport before its diversion changed to Glasgow, where it descended and held at around 10,000ft.

Diversion and landing

It eventually landed on runway 05 at 1.24pm local time, around three hours and 21 minutes after take-off.

The aircraft was then parked on a remote stand at Glasgow Airport, with the diversion understood to have been caused by a medical emergency on board.

Journey resumed

The plane was refuelled before departing Glasgow at around 5.55pm on Thursday to resume its journey to Chicago.

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