A brand-new Boeing 737 MAX, which was only delivered to low-cost airline Ryanair 12 days ago, was evacuated onto the runway via emergency slides on Sunday morning after the Captain smelled smoke in the cockpit and cabin.
Ryanair flight FR-5519 from Krakow Airport in Poland to Bristol, England, was taxiing for departure at around 10:30 am on October 12, after only just being pushed back from its stand, when the pilots ordered the evacuation.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the airport authority said that all of the passengers were evacuated without any reported injuries, and the plane had been towed back to its stand so that flight operations could continue.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-8200, was only delivered to Ryanair on September 30, 2025, fresh from the beleaguered aircraft manufacturer’s Renton factory in Washington state.
The 737-8200 is a high-capacity version of Boeing’s 737MAX-8 model, which was specially designed for Ryanair. The Ryanair version of the plane can seat 197 passengers, whereas a typical two-class configuration of the standard MAX-8 can only seat around 162 passengers.
The 8200 moniker started appearing on the side of Ryanair’s planes shortly after Boeing 737MAX planes were cleared to return to the skies following two fatal crashes of the aircraft type.
The cause of the smoke smell has yet to be established and Ryanair did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In July, 18 passengers were injured during a chaotic evacuation of a Ryanair flight at Palma Airport on the Spanish Island of Mallorca, which left several of those injured requiring surgery for broken legs and feet.
Danielle Kelly, 56, suffered a broken right heel, fractured left wrist, and a broken elbow after she jumped up to 18 feet onto the hard tarmac below as passengers fled the plane in fear for their lives.
The evacuation was ordered, it turned out, due to a false cockpit alert. Some of the passengers were so scared for their lives, however, that they evacuated onto the wings and then jumped onto the ground, seriously injuring themselves in the process.
Another passenger broke her foot, and a third person suffered a double fracture to her pelvis.
