A Ryanair Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 operating from Norwich to Malta diverted to East Midlands Airport on September 8 after suffering a bird strike shortly after take-off.
Flight FR5883 departed Norwich at around 0827hrs local time on the morning of September 8 before abandoning its planned journey to Malta.
Ryanair confirmed to Airliner World that the diversion followed what it described as a “minor bird strike” shortly after departure.
“This flight from Norwich to Malta (8 Sept) diverted to East Midlands Airport following a minor bird strike shortly after take-off,” the airline said.
“The flight arrived in East Midlands Airport at 10:00 local time.”
Ryanair stressed that the occurrence did not involve an emergency landing, describing it instead as a diversion to East Midlands.
A spokesperson for East Midlands Airport, said: “A Ryanair flight from Norwich to Malta made an emergency landing at East Midlands Airport shortly before 10am today. The aircraft landed safely and currently remains at East Midlands Airport for an engineering inspection.”
The aircraft operating the service was 9H-VUV (c/n 62331), a Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 operated by Ryanair subsidiary Malta Air, according to flight tracking data.
Norwich Airport had listed FR5883 as an 0845hrs departure to Malta.
Ryanair did not immediately provide further details on whether the aircraft sustained any damage, why East Midlands was selected rather than a return to Norwich, or what arrangements were being made for passengers to continue their journey to Malta.
According to flight tracking data, a replacement aircraft was found to continue the flight. The 737-8AS, EI-EFX (c/n 35019), took off from East Midlands just after midday bound for Malta and was due to land just after 4pm local time.
