Ryanair flight to Tenerife is forced to divert to Portugal ‘after suffering engine malfunction’

A Ryanair plane had to make an emergency landing this morning after it had to divert to the Portuguese Algarve due to a suspected 'engine failure'.

A 'Code Red' warning was activated at Faro Airport when Ryanair flight FR 1249, en route from Manchester to Tenerife South, reported trouble and the pilot had to abandon course.

The alarm sounded around 9:20 am when the plane was already south-west of Faro and on its way to the Canary Islands.

The plane had to return north before landing after experiencing a malfunction, a source from the Algarve Sub-Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command told local media.

More than 70 emergency workers, including police, firefighters and civil protection workers, were mobilized, along with around 30 emergency vehicles. All roads to the airport were closed for 15 minutes.

But despite concerns, the plane landed safely just before 10am local time.

A Ryanair plane had to make an emergency landing this morning after being forced to divert to the Portuguese Algarve due to a suspected 'engine failure'

There were believed to be about 164 passengers on board, none of whom were injured, and as of late Tuesday morning were waiting for a backup plane to continue their journey.

A statement from Ryanair said: 'This flight from Manchester to Tenerife has been diverted to Faro due to a technical problem with the aircraft.

'The plane landed normally and the passengers disembarked. Engineers are checking this aircraft and a spare aircraft has been sent for this flight to Tenerife, which departed at 10.56am local time.

'We sincerely apologize to affected passengers for this technical diversion, which was beyond Ryanair's control.'

A Ryanair plane had to make an emergency landing at the same airport a week ago after the pilot became ill.

The plane was en route from London Stansted to Morocco.

Portuguese daily Correio da Manha said the pilot told passengers before landing that he was not feeling well and that the diversion also caused a 'red alert' at the airport.

Albufeira, in the Algarve, is pictured

A Ryanair spokesperson said at the time: 'This flight from Stansted to Morocco was diverted to Faro when one of the pilots became ill.

'The aircraft landed normally and the passengers were transferred to an alternative aircraft operated by a different crew before continuing to Morocco.'

In April, a packed easyJet plane en route to Agadir in Morocco from London Gatwick also had to divert to Faro.

Local reports at the time said the flight diversion was due to the pilot having an 'indistance', and that this led to an identical red alert being raised before the Airbus A320 had landed safely.

EasyJet said in a response at the time: 'easyJet can confirm that flight EZY6469 from London Gatwick to Agadir was diverted to Faro on April 21 due to the first officer requiring medical attention.

'The captain conducted a routine landing in accordance with standard operating procedures and the aircraft was met by medical services on arrival in Faro.

“A replacement crew was provided and the passengers have since continued their journey to Agadir. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the diversion and resulting delay.”

'The safety and well-being of its passengers and crew is easyJet's highest priority.'