The Ryanair flight took off from London Stansted Airport and was heading to Faro, Portugal, when it was forced into an emergency landing 45 minutes later at Bournemouth
A Ryanair flight en route from the UK to Portugal declared an in-flight emergency shortly after departure. Flight FR5552 departed London Stansted airport at 6.21am yesterday, bound for Faro, but was forced to turn back shortly after crossing over northern France.
Instead of returning to the bustling airspace of London Stansted, the flight crew opted to divert to Bournemouth Airport, AirLive reports. At approximately 45 minutes into the journey, the pilots transmitted a Squawk 7700 (the international signal for a general emergency) and initiated a rapid descent.
It is understood the crew were responding to a medical emergency on board. The aircraft touched down safely in Bournemouth just over an hour after its initial departure. Emergency services are typically on standby for such landings as a standard precautionary measure.
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