Danielle Kelly’s right leg and left arm are now in plaster, having suffered injuries as she and other passengers were forced to flee a Ryanair flight at Majorca Palma Airport
A mum has described how “utter chaos” ensued when she thought a terrorist was on her Ryanair flight.
Danielle Kelly grabbed her daughter Frankie and “feared for her life” amid the mayhem, during which she and other passengers jumped from the plane’s wings as it sat stationary at Majorca Palma Airport. Ms Kelly, 56, knew she was seriously injured once she plummeted to the ground as she was unable to walk.
The Ryanair flight, which was destined for Manchester, experienced a “false fire alarm” as it attempted to take off on Saturday morning. However, amid the confusion and panic, passengers scrambled to flee the plane, and several have reported sustaining injuries. Ryanair says these were “very minor injuries” but Ms Kelly, a self-employed fitness instructor, suffered a broken right heel, fractured left wrist and smashed elbow. The mum’s right leg and left arm are now in plaster.
Speaking from her hospital bed, Ms Kelly said: “It was terrifying, we’ve been left completely traumatised by the experience. I’ve got my foot and arm in plaster and I’ve got to have three different surgeries to pin my foot, wrist and elbow tomorrow, I’m in a mess.”
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The mother, from Bury, Greater Manchester, told Mail Online: “I’m 56-years-old, I didn’t want to jump but I feared for my life. It felt like a life or death situation. I knew as soon as I landed that I was seriously injured, I couldn’t walk but the ground staff were shouting for everyone to move away from the aircraft in case it exploded.
“It was utter chaos, passengers were screaming, ‘open the doors, open the doors’. It was terrifying, I thought there was a terrorist on board, so I grabbed my daughter and got out.”
Ms Kelly was travelling with 26-year-old Frankie, friend Francine Elkinson, 57, and her daughter, Savannah. Savannah, also 26, said: “We got off via the wing. There were no slides. I’ve hurt my shoulder, my friend hurt her knee. Her mum fractured her elbow, wrist and foot. My mum broke her ankle. She’s in a cast. She’s having surgery now. She’s done it in in three places.”
Joanne Baker, who was on the flight with her husband, said the passengers heard a “loud bang” before crew members asked passengers to “brace.” She told us: “The crew was shouting “brace! brace!. We didn’t quite know what we were meant to do. They shouted, ‘get off the plane’, and leave your possessions. The communication was awful, the staff did their best, but they are kids and were obviously frightened as well.”
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “This flight from Palma to Manchester, on July 4, discontinued take-off due to a false fire warning light indication. Passengers were disembarked using the inflatable slides and returned to the terminal.
“While disembarking, a small number of passengers encountered very minor injuries (ankle sprains, etc.) and crew requested immediate medical assistance.
“To minimise disruption to passengers, we quickly arranged a replacement aircraft to operate this flight, which departed Palma at 07:05 this morning. We sincerely apologise to affected passengers for any inconvenience caused.”