Ryanair plane narrowly escaped disaster after landing with just three minutes left of fuel
Fierce gales mean the plane had to attempt to land three times before touching down with just three minutes left of fuel
A Ryanair plane narrowly averted catastrophe after staging an emergency landing when it came within three minutes of running out of fuel.
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The Boeing 737 attempted to land twice in Glasgow then Edinburgh before abandoning the effort and re-diverting to Manchester, where it landed “significantly below the final fuel reserve”.
With 171 passengers and six crew on board, the plane left Pisa and landed nearly four-and-a-half hours later in October 2025
Flight FR 3418 got caught up in gales triggered by Storm Army, triggering windshear warnings.
An Air Accident Investigations Branch report found that pilots wanted to divert to Manchester but air traffic controllers refused to accept the landing because of a “breakdown of communication within the airport”.
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Ryanair flight FR 3418 was scheduled to fly from Pisa to Glasgow’s Prestwick airport, landing at around 6pm.
But it was unable to make the landing after pilots received a wind shear warning - signalling a sudden and dangerous change of wind.
Under Ryanair rules, pilots had to abandon the first landing to make a second attempt.
It was at that point they requested air traffic control for permission to divert to Manchester, which was refused.
The AAIB said: “Although the reason for the refusal was not established, it appeared to have resulted from a breakdown in communication between units within Manchester airport.”
An attempt to land in Edinburgh was unsuccessful because of another windshear warning.
The pilots had no choice but to divert to Manchester, aware they would be forced to enter their final reserve fuel.
No consideration of landing at a nearer airport, such as Newcastle, was made.
The jet touched down with 363kg in its tanks - significantly below the final fuel reserve of 1,101kg, which led to a “MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY FUEL” declaration being made.
That was despite loading up with two tons of extra fuel at Pisa Airport in preparation for the bad weather.
Ryanair was approached for comment.