Ryanair plane makes mid-air U-turn and returns to airport after ground staff forgot to remove luggage from previous flight

July 28, 2015

A Ryanair Boeing 737 had set out from Derry Airport in Northern Ireland to Spain, but turned around 20 minutes in to remove luggage from previous trip. Ryanair blames 'third party ground handling agent' for the issue.

Source The Daily Mail

A Ryanair flight was forced to make a mid-air U-turn after ground staff forgot to unload the previous passengers' luggage.

Only 20 minutes after take-off from Derry Airport in Northern Ireland en-route to Alicante in Spain, the plane had to return.

It is believed the captain announced to the cabin that the plane was returning because they 'had forgotten a bag.'

One passenger on board, Maoliosa Boyle, was clearly shocked at the incident, writing on Facebook: 'Only in Derry, Took off from Eglinton airport for Spain and 20 minutes into the flight... "we apologise as we have to turn back, we forgot a bag". Seriously! U-turn back'.

The Boeing 737 made a safe landing back at Derry Airport.

A spokesperson for Ryanair told MailOnline: 'This flight from Derry to Alicante (27 July) returned to Derry shortly after take-off to unload baggage from the previous flight, which the third party ground handling agent had failed to remove before take-off.

'The aircraft landed normally, the baggage was removed and the flight departed to Alicante. Ryanair apologised to customers affected by this short delay.'

Management at Derry Airport said that they are 'sorry for the inconvenience caused' and that they are 'reviewing circumstances of the incident.'

The flight, that had departed at 5.55pm, eventually set out for the popular holiday destination of Alicante at 7pm local time.