Ryanair Flight from Morocco Turns Back After Smoke Report at 2,130 Metres
Thirty-seven minutes in the air, 270 kilometres covered… and the same airport at the end. The Boeing, which was due to fly to Marseille, remained grounded in Agadir for more than twenty hours. For passengers, the journey ended before it had really begun.
Barely after taking off from Agadir, the Ryanair plane due to fly to Marseille had to turn back. On Wednesday, 28 October, as the Boeing 737-800 reached an altitude of around 2,130 metres, its crew reported smoke or fumes on board. The pilots immediately stopped their climb and returned to Al-Massira Airport.
On Bladi.net : Ryanair Marseille-Nador: Phone Explosion Causes Flight Evacuation
Flight FR6494, operated by Malta Air on behalf of Ryanair, had left Agadir after making the return journey from Marseille a few hours earlier. This time, its trip ended where it had begun.
According to flight-tracking data, the aircraft, registered as 9H-QAI, covered around 270 kilometres in 37 minutes of flight. It eventually landed on Agadir’s runway 27, with no further incident reported.
The Boeing grounded for more than twenty hours
The aircraft’s return led to the cancellation of the flight to Marseille. The incident was reported on Thursday, 29 October, by specialist website The Aviation Herald.
The Boeing remained grounded well beyond its landing. Twenty-one hours after returning, the aircraft was still on the ground in Agadir, according to information published Thursday by Airportia.
The exact nature of the reported fumes had not been established in the initial accounts of the incident. Available information indicates that an alert was triggered during the climb, followed by the crew’s decision to return to Agadir immediately.
This is not the first time a Ryanair flight between Morocco and Europe has been interrupted shortly after takeoff. In March 2025, a plane flying from Manchester to Agadir had to return to its airport of departure following a technical problem. A replacement aircraft then allowed travellers to continue their journey.
For the Agadir-Marseille flight on 28 October, the decision was more drastic: after returning to Morocco, the service was cancelled.
