Smoke in Bathroom Forces Flybe Flight to Make Emergency Landing

IMPACTING TRAVEL | MICHAEL ISENBEK | AUGUST 01, 2015

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Flight BE-664 was climbing to cruising altitude after taking off at 5:11 p.m. Friday, local time when the problem arose. The Bombardier ‘Dash 8’ turboprop was at almost 19,000 feet when the Pan-Pan radio distress call was issued, the Irish Mirror said.A Flybe flight departing from Ireland West Airport in Knock was forced to cut its trip to the U.K. short when the crew encountered smoke in the airplane’s bathroom, which tripped an alarm, the Irish Mirror reported.

Speaking with air traffic controllers in Shannon, the crew reported the presence of smoke in the restroom, and then asked for clearance to descend to 10,000 feet. The Irish Mirror also said they asked for the location of the nearest airport, which was Dublin. They landed there safely at 5:41 p.m.

In a statement, published in part by the Irish Mirror, the low-cost British regional airline said: "Flybe can confirm that the captain of the flight traveling to Manchester from Knock took the decision to divert to Dublin Airport following an activation of the toilet smoke alarm. As is standard industry procedure, the airport placed its emergency vehicles on standby.

"The aircraft landed without incident and the 74 passengers disembarked normally after it had taxied to stand. The aircraft is currently being inspected by engineers to investigate the reason for the alert and passengers will be re-accommodated on the next available flight.

"Flybe apologizes for any inconvenience experienced but the safety of its passengers and crew is the airline’s number one priority