Dublin bound Ryanair flight forced to make U-turn following bizarre incident on board
A woman on board allegedly handed several sheets of paper to a member of cabin crew saying she was being followed
A Ryanair flight bound for Dublin was forced to return to Portugal shortly after take-off following a security incident onboard.
Flight FR7073 had departed Porto's Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport for Dublin on Tuesday night, September 22, when the aircraft turned around shortly into the journey.
Ryanair has confirmed that the flight returned to Porto following what the airline described as a "false security report".
As reported in the Irish Independent, a Ryanair spokesperson said,
“This flight from Porto to Dublin (22 September) returned to Porto shortly after take-off due to a false security report, which was quickly resolved before the flight continued to Dublin following a two hour and 33 minute delay.”
Portuguese media reported that the incident involved a 48-year-old Brazilian woman who allegedly handed several sheets of paper to a member of cabin crew shortly after take-off and asked that they be passed to the captain.
The woman reportedly claimed in the written message that she was being followed by three people onboard the aircraft. Portuguese authorities have not confirmed that allegation.
The incident prompted the pilots to turn the aircraft around and return to Porto.
Some aviation reports claimed that the aircraft transmitted transponder code 7500, which is internationally associated with unlawful interference or hijacking.
However, other reporting citing Portuguese authorities disputes that the 7500 code was activated, and Ryanair itself has not said that there was a hijacking attempt.
The aircraft landed safely back at Porto Airport, where authorities intervened and the passenger was identified.
Flight tracking records show that FR7073 subsequently resumed its journey to Ireland and landed in Dublin in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Ryanair said the incident ultimately resulted in a delay of two hours and 33 minutes for passengers travelling to Dublin.