A violent turbulence at high altitude forced a volo Ryanair to return to an emergency in United Kingdomcausing injuries to some people on board. It happened on the afternoon of Sunday 28 December on the flight FR1211, started from Birmingham and directed the Tenerife Sud, in Spain. According to what has been reconstructed, the plane – a Boeing 737 Max with 197 seats – had taken off at 3.05pm local time when, having reached the cruising altitude of around 37 thousand feet (over 11 thousand metres), it encountered a phase of strong turbulence while it was over France, about fifty kilometers from Brest. At that moment the pilots decided to abort the flight and returnlaunching the emergency code “7700”, used to report critical situations.
Platform data Flightradar24 show that the aircraft initially maintained a smooth trajectory during the return, and then start a rapid descent which led him, in the space of about ten minutes, to descend to just over three thousand meters above sea level. Landing in Birmingham occurred approximately fifty minutes after the turnaround. According to some testimonies collected, the turbulence occurred while the cabin service was in progress. The flight attendants were passing through the aisles with trolleys when the plane was hit by the shaking, causing injuries described as mild to some people on board.
After landing, the airport emergency services intervened to provide assistance. The airline itself confirmed the incident: “Flight FR1121 returned to Birmingham airport shortly after take-off due to air turbulence”a Ryanair spokeswoman explained to the Corriere via email. “The aircraft landed normally, after which the passengers disembarked and returned to the terminal, where a small number of them were given assistance medica“. Once the checks and assistance to the passengers involved had been completed, the flight was rescheduled. “The flight then continued to Tenerife at 9.06pm local time”, added the company.
