Passengers aboard a Jet2 flight destined for a popular vacation spot found themselves 1,000km off course following an in-flight emergency.
Flight LS167 took off from Glasgow Airport en route to Arrecife Airport in Lanzarote around 3:30 pm on Thursday. While cruising at 37,000ft over Portugal’s coast, approximately two and a half hours into the trip, the Boeing 737-800 pilots decided to divert the aircraft due to a medical issue, prompting a swift descent to Faro Airport on Portugal’s Algarve coast.
A code 7700, indicating an onboard emergency, was transmitted to air traffic control, prioritizing the plane’s landing and ensuring emergency services were ready on the ground. This code is a general emergency signal, not specifying the nature of the issue, differentiating it from hijacking (7500) or radio failure (7600) incidents.
Reports suggest the emergency was medical in nature, with emergency response teams standing by upon the plane’s arrival in Faro. Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24 shows the aircraft altering its course southward over the Atlantic before making a sharp left turn and descending, followed by a northward turn towards Faro, where it landed around 6:20 pm.
After a brief stop in Faro, the flight resumed its journey at approximately 8 pm, eventually arriving in Lanzarote at 9:35 pm. The Mirror has reached out to Jet2 for comments on the incident.
This incident follows another emergency declaration on an easyJet flight bound for Manchester Airport earlier in the week. Passengers onboard flight U22164 from Amsterdam witnessed the aircraft circling in a holding pattern as the crew responded to a mid-air alert. The plane safely landed at Manchester Airport after the pilot altered the approach path following the emergency declaration, touching down at 3:05 pm, 45 minutes past the scheduled arrival time of 2:20 pm.