A TUI flight bound for Manchester declared a general emergency and diverted to East Midlands Airport after its fuel began running low while it was held in the air following a security incident at Manchester Airport.
Flight BY439, a Boeing 737 MAX travelling from Aristides Pereira International Airport in Cape Verde, was approaching Manchester on Friday night when air traffic control instructed it to enter a holding pattern. The disruption followed an incident in which a person was reported to have encroached onto the airfield at Manchester Airport.
Emergency declared over Peak District
The TUI aircraft entered a holding pattern at around 6,000ft over the Peak District as it waited for permission to land at Manchester. After around 20 minutes of circling, the aircraft's fuel began running low. The pilots then declared a general emergency by transmitting squawk code 7700.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed that a 17-year-old had been detained under the Mental Health Act and said enquiries were ongoing. The individual was taken to hospital from the scene. At least 17 flights were held in the air while the incident was dealt with, while seven flights were diverted to other airports.
Diversion and landing
With uncertainty over how long Manchester Airport would remain unavailable and the aircraft facing fuel limitations, the Boeing 737 MAX was diverted to East Midlands Airport. It landed shortly after midnight on Saturday, where it was refuelled before taking off again for Manchester. Manchester Airport reopened to arriving aircraft around 15 minutes later.
The flight from East Midlands to Manchester took approximately 18 minutes, with the aircraft eventually landing at 1.35am.
Passenger account
Passenger Angela Slater described the experience after arriving back in Manchester. She said the flight should have landed at around 11.30pm but instead arrived at approximately 1.30am, with her getting home at around 3.30am. Writing on Facebook, she praised the flight crew and captain for keeping passengers informed and dealing with what she described as a “crazy situation”.
She said the aircraft did not have enough fuel to remain airborne for an uncertain amount of time and that it had completed around seven laps before diverting. Slater also described seeing an unusually large number of aircraft in the sky while on the flight.
The TUI flight was ultimately able to complete its journey after refuelling at East Midlands Airport, although passengers faced a delay of around two hours before reaching Manchester.
