A Ryanair flight to Agadir circled for around an hour before the pilot was forced to return to Manchester Airport for an emergency landing.
A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 was surrounded by fire engines after it returned to Manchester Airport after circling for one hour.
The aircraft, initially en route to Agadir in Morocco, left just before 4pm on Sunday, March 16 2025 but unexpectedly changed course shortly after.
An issue forced the pilot to reroute north west over Wigan, making nine loops above the area at 5,000ft altitude.
The Boeing 737-800 (registration G-RUKE) safely returned to Manchester, landing at about 5pm with fire crews awaiting its arrival. Two fire engines escorted the plane to the gate.
Ryanair announced that a ‘minor technical issue’ prompted the unscheduled return, and reassurances have been given that passengers were swiftly transferred onto another plane for their journey.
A spokesperson for the airline confirmed: “This flight from Manchester to Agadir (Sunday, 16 Mar) returned to Manchester shortly after take-off due to a minor technical issue. The aircraft landed normally at Manchester Airport and passengers disembarked.”
