A Ryanair passenger aircraft had to declare an emergency and perform an unscheduled landing due to low fuel levels while flying. The flight, FR5448, departed from Sevilla, Spain, heading to Nantes, France. As it was about to land at Nantes Atlantique Airport, the crew had to abort the landing because of a runway blockage caused by another plane’s engine failure during takeoff.
The affected aircraft, bound for Madrid, experienced an engine failure shortly after takeoff, leading to one engine shutting down, possibly due to debris from a burst tire. After circling back to land and inspecting the runway for debris, the pilots ascended to 7,000 feet to perform a go-around maneuver, which involves abandoning the landing to try again later or diverting to another airport.
With fuel reserves depleting from the unforeseen extended flight time, the captain declared a fuel emergency, prompting an emergency climb to 20,000 feet. The plane was then directed towards Brest airport for a safe landing, where it touched down approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes after departing Sevilla.
The runway blockage at Nantes caused disruptions, forcing incoming flights to be redirected to nearby airports. After inspecting the runway for debris from the damaged engine, flight operations were suspended for four hours, with normal operations resuming around 11pm local time.
Ryanair confirmed the diversion to Brest due to the closure of Nantes Airport’s runway, ensuring a safe landing with fuel levels above the final reserve. Passengers eventually departed for Nantes at 23:10 local time.