Passengers who were on a flight that experienced extreme turbulence have spoken of chaotic scenes as the plane battled conditions and ended up making an emergency landing. Husband and wife Tina and Leslie Driver were travelling to Cape Verde on June 27 on the flight which was beset by issues including loud bangs and fellow passengers being thrown from their seats.
The care workers were flying to the African island nation when 10 minutes after take off they heard two "enormous" bangs from one of the engines. Following the unusual sounds, the pilot announced that there was a technical issue and the plane would be making an emergency landing.
The jet had to circle around Manchester Airport to burn off fuel for approximately two-and-a-half hours before it could land and during this time, the aircraft experienced lot of turbulence, the Drivers told the Liverpool Echo. Leslie said: "The turbulence was really bad, there was one really bad bit where everybody was thrown from their seats. The pilot and staff were fantastic, they told us what was happening and were going up and down the plane asking if people wanted water."
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Lesley continued: "Before we landed, the pilot spoke again to say he had burnt the fuel and we would be able to do an emergency landing. He said because of this, all the emergency services would be on the tarmac at Manchester Airport waiting for us. He said all the warning lights had come up on the plane."
Leslie had booked the holiday three years earlier and explained that the plane was "very hot" when he and his wife boarded. He said: "We went through check in and security completely fine, which was great considering all the queues in recent weeks. The plane was an hour delayed but everything was going smoothly.
"We got onto the plane and it was very warm, we were told by staff the plane had been to Turkey the night before and there was a problem with the air conditioning. They said once we had taken off it would be fine. After about 10 minutes of flying we heard two enormous bangs and when I looked out the window I saw something orange fly past. My wife thought it was a bird.
"Kids were screaming and people were panicking, it was really scary. When I saw how the two airhostesses looked at each other, I knew something wasn't right."
Upon landing, none of the passengers required medical attention and airline TUI sent passengers an apology email which read: "We're really sorry for the disruption to your flight today, we appreciate this will be disappointing. Your aircraft was serviceable and took off as expected, however shortly into your flight the captain encountered a technical issue with the aircraft.
"The safety of our customers and crew is paramount and he had to make the difficult decision to turn back to Manchester Airport. Due to landing restrictions, the captain had to circle the aircraft for some time to be able to burn fuel and land safely back into Manchester."
Those still intending to travel were offered a hotel and £15 for refreshments in the airport while TUI arranged for an alternative aircraft to be used.
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