Ryanair Flight Touches Down with Just 6 Minutes of Fuel After Storm Diversions

A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 had to make an emergency landing after its fuel levels dropped below safe minimums while attempting to land at three different airports in the UK during a storm. Fortunately, the aircraft landed without incident, but authorities are now looking into the details of the situation.

The flight in question, Ryanair flight FR3418, took off on October 3, 2025, being operated by Malta Air, a subsidiary of Ryanair. It was scheduled to travel from Pisa Airport (PSA) in Italy to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) in Scotland. The aircraft, registered as 9H-QBD, is a Boeing 737-800 that can seat 189 passengers and is approximately 10.3 years old, as reported by ch-aviation.

Departing Pisa at 17:28 local time, the flight took off over an hour later than planned. It flew northeast, passing over Switzerland and France before heading up the UK towards Prestwick. According to The Guardian, severe weather warnings were active for northern UK airports as Storm Amy brought heavy rains and strong winds to the area.

Despite the warnings, FR3418 initiated its approach to land at Prestwick. Data from Flightradar 24 shows that the aircraft attempted to land at 19:04 but had to circle the airport instead. A second landing attempt at 19:34 was also aborted. After another 20 minutes of circling, the crew made the decision to divert to Edinburgh Airport (EDI), deemed the alternate airport.

At 20:09, the crew aborted the landing attempt at Edinburgh due to the challenging winds and opted to head to Manchester Airport (MAN) in England, where conditions were expected to be more favorable.

By this time, after three attempted landings and extended circling, the fuel reserves were critically low. Upon approaching Manchester, the crew declared a fuel emergency and requested priority for landing. The aircraft touched down with just 220kg of fuel remaining, equivalent to a mere six minutes of flight time, according to estimates.

The AAIB is investigating

The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has initiated an investigation into this serious incident. Such low fuel levels, particularly after three attempts to land, raised significant safety concerns. In a statement, a Ryanair spokesperson noted, “Ryanair reported this to the relevant authorities and is fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation.”

This incident raised alarms among aviation experts. One professional pilot mentioned to The Guardian that the event was “as close to a fatal accident as possible.” Standard aviation protocols require aircraft to land with enough fuel for an additional 30 minutes of flight, a requirement FR3418 clearly did not meet.

After finally landing at Manchester Airport at 20:51, nearly three hours late, passengers were taken by bus to Prestwick Airport, arriving around ten hours overdue. Other Ryanair flights that evening also diverted from Prestwick to alternate airports in the UK, reflecting the challenges posed by the storm.

What do you think could have been done differently to prevent such a critical situation?