Aer Lingus flight attendant feared for life after ‘chaotic’ landing at Dublin Airport

A flight attendant yesterday told the High Court she thought “we were all dead” when an Aer Lingus plane from Malaga allegedly bounced three times as it landed at Dublin Airport.

Cabin crew member Cassandra Reddin said passengers were screaming and duty-free in overhead baggage smashed and alcohol poured on passengers during the 2009 landing.

Ms Reddin, who was on the Airbus 320 from Malaga to Dublin, claimed she suffered back and neck injuries when, it is contended, the plane landed in a heavy, dramatic fashion with an alleged inappropriate and excessive rate of descent.

Opening the case yesterday, Finbar Fox, counsel for Ms Reddin, said the downward force generated during the landing was consistent with a wholly inappropriate rate of descent. He said his side contended that the rate of descent coming in to Dublin was excessive.

“Safety documents shot out of their pockets, duty free broke and in the overhead baggage and alcohol leaked in to the cabin. There was a degree of chaos and stress on board,” he said.

“The simple option would have been to go around and have another go. The plane was swaying from side to side. It should have been clear to the pilot to go around and try again.”

Counsel said his side contended that, with one second before touchdown, the rate of descent was three to four times what it should have been.

Ms Reddin, aged 33, of Woodlands Manor, Ratoath, Co Meath has sued Aer Lingus over the injuries she claimed she suffered when EI582 from Malaga to Dublin landed at Dublin Airport on November 19, 2009.

She has claimed there was an alleged failure to adequately supervise in terms of the landing of the plane by a co-pilot and she suffered soft tissue neck and back injury and whiplash and that afterwards she had nightmares following which she woke up screaming. Aer Lingus has denied all the claims.

In evidence, Ms Reddin said the cabin crew were instructed to secure the cabin for landing at 30 minutes before landing instead of 10.

“It got very bumpy and the plane was swaying from side to side,” she said. “I was very frightened. The gear was down and the plane was rocking froms side to side. The plane bounced off the runway three times. Passengers were screaming and we could hear glass smashing and alcohol was pouring on the passengers.”

She said she told everybody to sit down but her voice was shaking and a passenger told her she was not very reassuring.

She said she thought the plane was not going to stop and would be off the runway.

“I thought we were all dead, that the aeroplane was not going to stop. I was shaking,” she said.

Ms Reddin said the senior cabin person after they landed instructed her “not to mention what happened on the bus back to the terminal because the co-pilot was mortified”.

She said she cried the whole evening at home afterwards and was in shock. The next day she could not move her neck and and also later suffered panic attacks.

She now works in Aer Lingus’s social media section.

The case before Mr Justice Michael Hanna continues.