A passenger jet carrying 171 people and six crew members landed with about one per cent of its fuel remaining after severe weather and a series of diversions, an air safety report has said. The Boeing 737, which had been scheduled to fly from Pisa, Italy, to Prestwick on 3 October last year, was diverted via Edinburgh before eventually landing in Manchester.
During Storm Amy, the aircraft encountered three separate wind shear events. The crew abandoned two landing attempts at Prestwick and sought to divert to Manchester, but this request was initially refused. The aircraft then headed to Edinburgh, where a third wind shear event occurred, prompting pilots to declare a fuel emergency and transmit a mayday call before diverting to Manchester.
The UK Airprox Board report found that the aircraft landed safely at Manchester Airport with 363kg of fuel remaining, which was below its final reserve fuel of 1,100kg. Investigators concluded that the initial refusal of the diversion request appeared to be due to a breakdown in communication within Manchester Airport. Manchester Airport stated it reviewed the circumstances and reinforced its procedures for handling diversion requests following the incident.