Ryanair flight bound for Glasgow landed with 'minutes of fuel left' during storm

A Ryanair flight bound for Prestwick Airport landed with “minutes of fuel left” during a storm, according to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).

The Boeing aircraft left Pisa bound for Prestwick on October 3 last year, carrying 171 passengers and six staff on board.

According to the report, the crew took extra fuel to allow for possible delays and diversions due to weather caused by Storm Amy.

Following two windshear escape manoeuvres that transitioned into go-arounds at Prestwick, the crew requested a diversion to Manchester Airport.

If a windshear warning is received, pilots must execute a manually flown windshear escape manoeuvre, which is designed to transition the aircraft into a maximum rate climb to clear the windshear conditions.

The request to divert to Manchester was not accepted, and the aircraft diverted to Edinburgh Airport.

But following a further windshear escape manoeuvre at Edinburgh, the crew declared an emergency and diverted to Manchester.

The report found the aircraft landed with “a fuel quantity significantly below the final reserve fuel”.

The flight crew declared a mayday before diverting to Manchester, where they landed with 363kg of fuel remaining, less than the final reserve fuel of 1,100kg.

During the previous go-arounds, AAIB experts said that “recorded fuel flow reached approximately 3,600kg/hr per engine (120 kg/min for both engines)”.

This meant that the aircraft would have run out of fuel after a few minutes if the pilots had to abort another landing at Manchester.

The report concluded: “Another approach at Edinburgh would have protected final reserve fuel – if it had resulted in a safe landing – but the crew was concerned that if it resulted in another missed approach, they would then be committed to making a third approach in windshear conditions with no option other than to fly through a windshear warning to land.

“Although the airport and handling agent policies at Manchester meant that the diversion should have been accepted, a breakdown of communication within the airport led to it being refused.

“The aircraft diverted instead to Edinburgh, where the crew was required to perform another windshear escape manoeuvre.”

The report added: “It is unlikely that there would have been sufficient fuel available for another go-around.”

The AAIB stated that following this serious incident, Manchester Airport reiterated to stakeholders its policy of accepting diversion requests if the airport has the capacity to receive the aircraft and that the decision on accepting the diversion does not rest with the handling agent.

Ryanair has been contacted for comment.