Maintenance error forces TUI Airways flight to abort mid-air due to pressurisation failure

A TUI Airways Boeing 737-800 operating a flight from Manchester, UK, to Kos, Greece, with 187 passengers and 6 crew, on 17 October 2023, was forced to return mid-air after maintenance engineers failed to reactivate pressurisation switches.

Both pilots missed the oversight during pre-flight and in-flight checks, risking passengers’ exposure to hypoxia. The cabin altitude warning remained active for 43 minutes, and prescribed safety drills were not completed. The aircraft safely returned to Manchester without injuries.

Three days later, the same plane veered off a Leeds Bradford runway due to a nosewheel failure. An investigation highlights lapses in maintenance and protocol adherence.