A Jet2 flight headed from Glasgow in Scotland to Mallorca in Spain was forced to make an emergency landing after it 'nearly ran out of fuel' while in the sky.
Almost 200 passengers were on board flight LS189 last month, August 27, when the incident unfolded.
Holidaymakers on the Boeing flight expected that the routine trip would take around two-and-a-half hours before landing in Palma De Mallorca for their trip away.
However, as storms hit the holiday destination the plane was requested into a holding pattern just before they were due to land, the Daily Record reports. The plane was then left flying overhead at 35,000ft in the sky.
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The pilots noticed they were starting to use up their fuel reserves and were forced to issue a 'fuel mayday' call, Diario De Mallorca reports. A preliminary report by Spain’s Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission (CIAIAC) said a distress call came saying: “If they remained in flight, they would land with less than 1,159 kilos of fuel”.
Eventually, the flight was allowed to land and made it to Mallorca after three hours and 26 minutes - but "with 39 kilograms less fuel than the final reserve fuel", the CIAICA report states.
Spanish authorities have launched an investigation into the circumstances.
Raquel Sánchez Jiménez, Acting Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda said: "There were no injuries and the aircraft was undamaged."
A Jet2 spokesperson said: “We can confirm that flight LS189 from Glasgow to Palma did not run out of fuel. At no point was anybody’s safety compromised and the aircraft landed as normal. Due to the severe weather conditions affecting the island of Majorca on Sunday 27 August, many aircraft due to land at Palma Airport were held for longer than usual at the request of air traffic control.
"Due to this, and as a precautionary measure, our highly-trained crew onboard the flight requested a priority landing, which is standard operating procedure when the flight crew believe that the aircraft may land with less than reserve fuel amounts. We are fully supporting the authorities with their investigation, as well as conducting our own investigation.”
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