‘People thought if it took off it would explode’

PASSENGERS have told how they could feel intense heat coming through the floor of an aborted flight in Faro on Saturday night.

In a statement, Ryanair admitted that about 10 to 15 people situated at the exit seats beside the wing started shouting “fire, fire, stop” but denied that “mass hysteria” broke out on the plane.

Passenger Ken O’Grady outlined how panic broke out on board the Ryanair flight to Shannon as it was about to take off, as people saw sparks outside and became overwhelmed with a smell of burning.

“It was a pretty serious situation. My wife definitely felt heat coming up through the floor. In some seats people were pressing the panels to get oxygen because the smell was so bad. My three-year-old was terrified and my wife was just in bits. I mean I saw men coming off that flight in tears. People were just shattered by the whole experience,” he said.

Another passenger said: “People in the middle of the plane were screaming that they could feel the heat coming up through their runners. There was a residue of smoke in the plane and that smell was not the smell of a bird, it was a chemical-type smell. Somebody witnessed sparks outside also. Everybody thought if it took off it would explode.”

Mr O’Grady revealed after the flight stopped he witnessed what seemed to be fire engines outside the aircraft. Passengers were then taken off.

“People were bunny- hopped off the plane and into the terminal. What I witnessed there was a disgrace, a new low in my experience of flying over 20 years. In the 12 or 13 hours I was there, I didn’t see a single person in a Ryanair uniform. We got nothing, no information, no accommodation, not even a cup of tea. I had to ask the police to get a number for accommodation. I had to speak to the taxi ranks to tell them to send more cars,” he said.

Mr O’Grady said passengers were told to return the next day at 7.30am but were given no information until the pilot was brought to the departures area to reassure passengers the aircraft was safe.

“By the time it was 12pm and we still hadn’t got on I just decided I wasn’t taking my family on the flight and I left the queue. They were obviously testing the plane somewhere and we were waiting. I know the pilot stood in departures and told everyone it was all right but this was the same pilot that abandoned takeoff just a few seconds before we were to take off,” he said.

Mr O’Grady said that he would never travel on a Ryanair flight again and would be advising everyone he knew to do the same.

“Micheal O’Leary says that people should vote with their feet. Well I will. I will never fly with them again. Never. There was just a basic lack of human decency in how we were treated,” he said.

Ryanair said there was no fire or smoke within the aircraft and that no heat came from under the aircraft. It said passengers were attended by Ryanair’s handling agents in Faro as it does not have any staff there.