A brand new Ryanair Boeing plane that was set to carry 160 people to the UK has been evacuated after smoke was reported in the cabin and cockpit.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8-200, which had the registration EI-ILN, was due to fly from Krakow, Poland, to Bristol on October 12.
But as the plane taxied to the runway, crew members said they began to smell smoke.
The captain of the plane abandoned the flight, telling flight attendants to open up the emergency slides.
Thankfully, there were no reported injuries. A spokesperson for Krakow airport told Bild: ‘The causes of the incident are currently unknown. The passengers have been returned to the terminal, and the aircraft is currently being inspected by the authorities’.
The plane, which was only delivered to the budget airline on September 30 this year, is still at Krakow Airport and is being examined by technicians.
The source of the smoke is currently unclear. A spokesperson for Ryanair told the Daily Mail: ‘Ryanair Flight FR5519 from Krakow to Bristol was delayed this morning (Sun 12 Oct) due to the appearance of smoke from the rear galley.
‘In the interest of safety, passengers were disembarked on the taxiway and returned to the terminal.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8-200, which had the registration EI-ILN, (pictured) was due to fly from Krakow, Poland, to Bristol on October 12
The plane, which was only delivered to the budget airline on September 30 this year, is still at Krakow Airport and is being examined by technicians
‘A replacement aircraft was routed to Krakow to take passengers onto Bristol with a delay of approx. 6 hours, for which we apologise sincerely.’
Earlier this month, an investigation was launched after a Boeing plane run by Malta Air on behalf of Ryanair came within six minutes of ‘running out of fuel’ mid-air.
The flight was heading to Glasgow‘s Prestwick Airport from Pisa in Italy on October 3 when it issued a ‘fuel Mayday’ and made an emergency landing in Manchester.
The plane made several unsuccessful attempts to land at Prestwick before attempting a landing at Edinburgh Airport. This was also unsuccessful.
The plane then diverted to Manchester, where it landed safely, almost two hours after the first go-around at Prestwick.
The flight reportedly landed with just 220kg of fuel left in the tank, which is only enough for around five or six minutes of flying time.
For the type of aircraft used for the Ryanair flight, a Boeing 737-800, the amount of fuel require cannot dip below 30 minutes of flying time.
Earlier this year, the US Justice Department dropped its criminal case against Boeing despite the company agreeing to plead guilty last year for its role in two fatal crashes involving its planes.
In a filing regarding the decision, the Justice Department said: ‘After careful consideration of the families’ views, the facts and the law … it is the government’s judgement that the agreement is a fair and just resolution that serves the public interest.
‘The agreement guarantees further accountability and substantial benefits from Boeing immediately, while avoiding the uncertainty and litigation risk presented by proceeding to trial.’
Boeing instead agreed to a non-prosecution agreement, in which it said it would pay $444.5million in victim compensation on top of the $500million it had already paid.
