A Ryanair flight that was on its way from Seville, Spain to Manchester, United Kingdom, was forced to divert to Nantes, France, due to a medical emergency onboard.
Ryanair flight FR4371 departed from Seville San Pablo Airport (SVQ) towards its intended destination of Manchester Airport (MAN) at 9:15 PM local time (UTC +1) on December 20, 2020. The flight was scheduled to arrive at MAN around two hours later.
Approximately an hour into the flight, the Boeing 737 (registered as EI-EKM) was flying off the East Coast of France, the aircraft turned around towards the nearest airport, which was Nantes Airport (NTE) in France. The flight crew squawked 7770 as they began to descend towards NTE, indicating an emergency onboard.
“This flight from Seville to Manchester diverted to Nantes after a passenger became ill on board. The crew called ahead to request medical assistance upon arrival, the aircraft landed normally, and the passenger disembarked and was met by medics for further treatment. The aircraft departed for Manchester shortly afterward,” a Ryanair spokesperson confirmed the events in a statement to AeroTime News.
The aircraft, which arrived at Nantes Airport (NTE) at 10:34 PM local time (UTC +1), departed for Manchester Airport (MAN) around two hours later, at 12:28 AM local time (UTC +1) on December 21, 2020, flightradar24.com data shows. An hour later the Ryanair Boeing 737 finally reached its destination in the UK.