Source: www.simpleflying.com

A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 had to return to its departure airport earlier today as the cabin was filled with smoke. The aircraft, already a replacement for the scheduled service, landed safely back at Bucharest Otopeni Airport in Romania. Passengers were unharmed and subsequently picked up by a different Ryanair plane.

The Aviation Herald has reported today on an incident in Romania involving a Ryanair aircraft. The floight, FR-1006, was due to leave Bucharest at 06:40 this morning, heading to London Stansted Airport. However, due to difficulties with the assigned aircraft, passengers had to wait for a replacement aircraft, EI-EVH, to be prepared to take them.

Conditions in Bucharest are pretty cold at this time of year, with temperatures that early in the morning hovering at around -4°C (24°F), so the aircraft needed to be de-iced before it could make the journey. Eventually, the flight an all its passengers departed the stand at 10:57 local time. The approximately 2 hour 45 mins flight should have seen them landing at London in time for lunch, however, things did not go to plan. Just minutes into the flight, as the aircraft was climbing through around 5,000 feet, the crew declared Mayday Mayday, signaling an emergency in progress. Flight crew advised the airport that there was smoke in the cabin, and that they needed to return to Otopeni Airport.