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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Will Maule

Police called to TUI passenger's 'flight from hell' after plane diverts in 12-hour delay

Police were called to deal with 'abusive' passengers after a plane 'bounced' off the runway and was forced to divert to a different airport.

A passenger on the 'flight from hell' from Cape Verde to Bristol said the ordeal led to a 12-hour delay and resulted in people being escorted off the plane by airport police as tempers began to fray.

Passengers said that the aircraft touched down on the Bristol runway before flying off again and diverting to Birmingham, reported Birmingham Live.

Once there, those onboard were stuck on the tarmac for two hours, at which point frustrations began to mount inside the cabin and a pregnant passenger even required medical attention.

TUI apologised for the delays and blamed the disruption on 'weather conditions' (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The stricken holidaymakers were eventually informed that they would not be returning to Bristol by plane, but would instead be bussed back to their return destination.

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TUI said the plane was diverted from Bristol due to " weather conditions", but passenger James Hendy disputes this, saying the conditions were absolutely fine.

"It was nothing to do with weather conditions," Mr Hendy said. "There was no adverse weather conditions. It was clear. And if so why did we bounce off the ground?"

The TUI flight eventually touched down at Birmingham Airport and passengers were bussed back to Bristol (Getty Images)

He added that the reason given was a "safety issue".

"And we were 12 hours late to Bristol as we were landed at Birmingham," he said. "Not acceptable. Flight from hell - yes."

Mr Hendy explained that, following numerous delays and diversions, police came onto the flight "to remove a member of public and a woman need medical treatment".

"Two hours on a plane at Birmingham then two hours in the terminal waiting for baggage only to get onto coach again to Bristol for another two hours," he said. "And TUI are only offering compensation for a three-hour delay".

Another passenger told Bristol Live : "We absolutely bounced off the runway back into the sky, causing a system error. Before we landed, the captain said it would be bouncy due to the tarmac length. We took a shortcut, I've flown in and out of Bristol plenty and I was thinking 'where are we going?'

"We went down and the plane honestly felt like it smashed the tarmac, then we went back up into the air. The captain announced this was normal and he was going to try again.

"We did a big turn and then he announced a system error had occurred," she added. "Honestly, it was scary. I've landed in Canada in ice and snow, but this was 'bounce, bounce'."

A TUI spokeswoman confirmed that the flight had been diverted to Birmingham "due to weather conditions at Bristol Airport".

"Our crew offered all possible support during the flight before everyone was safely disembarked," the spokeswoman added. "We’d like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to customers onboard. The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always our highest priority and we’d like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding."

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