A Ryanair Boeing 737 passenger aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in France following reports of a fire on board.
The incident occurred on January 3, 2022, when the Ryanair Boeing 737-800 jet, registered as EI-EFY, was on its way to Portugal. According to a flight record located on Flightradar24.com, the flight (FR4052) took off from Manchester Airport (MAN) in England at 6.33 p.m. The aircraft was expected to land at Faro Airport (FAO), Portugal, a few hours later. But approximately an hour into the flight, the aircraft made a rapid descent from its cruising height of 41,000ft to just 7,000ft in seven minutes to make an emergency landing at Brest Airport (BES), in France.
Immediately after the landing, the aircraft was met by several local fire crews.
737-800 Ryanair #FR4052 went down in emergency in brest due to a fire outside the aircraft, all passengers got out on a bus taken by the french police pic.twitter.com/0En5vgLasg
— thomas drié (@thomasdrie49) January 3, 2022
After the Boeing 737 emergency was deemed under control, passengers were able to continue with their journey to Faro via a replacement Boeing 737-800, registration EI-DLF. The aircraft had arrived from London Stansted Airport (STN), in the UK.
While the cause of the incident remains unclear, some sources have claimed that a fire broke out inside the plane, sparking concerns that a loss of cabin pressure could have led to the plane’s rapid descent. Others have reported that a fire erupted outside the jet.
However, Ryanair is yet to issue any official information.