Ryanair flight from Edinburgh diverts in mid-air emergency

Ryanair flight from Edinburgh diverts in mid-air emergency A Ryanair flight from Edinburgh to Morocco has been forced to divert to Birmingham Airport following an emergency on board with a passenger falling ill A Ryanair flight from Edinburgh to Morocco had to be diverted just one hour into the journey due to a medical emergency. Flight RK514 departed the Scottish hub at 7.22am on Sunday, bound for Marrakesh, but ended up landing at Birmingham Airport at 8.15am after a passenger fell ill. The plane was met by paramedics, and the passenger was offloaded for further treatment, though their condition is currently unknown. Flight tracking data showed the Boeing 737-8AS had just left the south coast of England and was heading over the Channel when it U-turned towards the mainland. The plane flew over Fowey, Davidstow and Marhamchurch in Cornwall on its way to Birmingham, where it looped just outside the city. It flew over Rubery, Redditch and Bromsgrove before it made its descent to the airport. A Ryanair spokesperson said: "This flight from Edinburgh to Marrakesh (13 Sep) diverted to Birmingham after a passenger onboard became ill. The aircraft was met by paramedics upon landing at Birmingham Airport, and the passenger was offloaded for further treatment." It is unclear whether the aircraft transmitted a 7700 code, signalling a general emergency, when the pilot made the decision to divert the plane to Birmingham. When a pilot enters the four-digit emergency code 7700 into their transponder, it immediately alerts air traffic control that the aircraft is in distress and requires priority handling. But the nature of the incident is unclear as it acts as a "catch-all" for any emergency situation that isn't a hijacking (7500) or radio failure (7600). A Lufthansa flight bound for Washington DC was forced to abort its journey after declaring a mid-air emergency over the UK last Thursday. Lufthansa Flight LH418, operated by an Airbus A340-600, left Frankfurt Airport at 1.30pm local time, and was roughly two hours into its journey at around 34,000ft when it issued a squawk 7700 alert over northern Scotland. Flight tracking data shows the flight descended from its cruising altitude and diverted towards Glasgow Airport, landing there on runway 23. The flight initially appeared to be heading towards Dublin Airport in Ireland, where emergency ground crews were reportedly on standby.