Airline plays down two evacuations
Sixty passengers had to disembark the Cork to Manchester flight as it was preparing for take-off at Cork Airport yesterday morning after fuel was found dripping from a tank.
That followed a bigger drama last Thursday when the reverse flight from Manchester to Cork had to return to Manchester after take-off when an indicator warning light flashed in the cockpit.
In both cases, passengers experienced delays of several hours while the planes were checked out or replacement aircraft found.
Both flights were operated by Aer Arann for Aer Lingus, leading one passenger who is a weekly commuter between the two cities to question whether there was a problem with the Aer Arann fleet used on the route.
Denis O’Donovan who lives in Skibbereen, Co Cork, but works in Leeds, said yesterday morning’s evacuation was the latest in a series of delays and unspecified technical problems on the route.
“We were all sitting ready to go at 7am when we were told we’d have to get off. The pilot assured us there was nothing to worry about and nobody panicked, but we could see the fire crews approaching, so it was a bit unnerving,” he said.
Aer Arann said the incident on flight EI3720 was due to the detection of a “very small quantity” of fuel dripping from a tank. It was not the main fuel tank, the airline stressed, but a compartment used to collect unused fuel during cleaning.
“There was no emergency and there was no safety issue for the passengers or crew. Passengers disembarked normally. Cork Airport fire service attended the scene but did not approach the aircraft until all the passengers had left the aircraft and passengers were informed that the fire service were in attendance as a precaution.”
Last Thursday’s incident, on flight EI3721 from Manchester to Cork, occurred when the pilots were alerted to a possible technical problem by a flashing warning light. The plane returned to Manchester and the passengers were taken off and put on another plane some hours later.
“The plane landed normally and was thoroughly inspected. No problem was found with it and again there was no emergency and no safety issue,” Aer Arann said.
Mr O’Donovan said, however, the airline’s performance did not inspire confidence. “It’s not so much a safety issue as a reliability issue. Manchester is not exactly a holiday resort — people are using this route to get to work. I see the same people on board week in and week out now. We need it to be a reliable service.”
Aer Arann said there were no problems with the fleet of ATR 72-500s used on the route and stressed the two incidents were entirely unrelated. “We are really sorry that the same passenger was inconvenienced twice, but it’s more a coincidence than anything.”
