Passengers claimed an air stewardess shouted for them to ‘get off the plane’ after she heard a ‘bang’ and others onboard the Ryanair flight reportedly smelled ‘burnt electrics’
Ryanair passengers screamed as they jumped off a plane following a “false” alarm on a flight to Manchester.
The delayed flight from Majorca’s Palma Airport was take to take off late on July 4 before passengers onboard heard a “bang” and began evacuating the plane. Local authorities said six people were taken to hospital with some 18 believed to have sustained injuries.
Passengers claimed an air stewardess shouted “get off the plane” after she heard a “bang” and then instructed everyone to leave their belongings behind. They then proceeded to use the emergency exit and jumped off the wing of the Ryanair plane and onto the tarmac below, causing several injuries.
One passenger said she could smell “burnt electrics” when she returned to collect her luggage, but Ryanair said it was a “false” alarm. Savanah, 26, from Whitefield, Greater Manchester, was with her friend and both of their mums on the flight.
Speaking to Manchester Evening News, she said her 57-year-old mum broke her ankle in three places and is now having surgery, while her friend’s mum fractured her elbow, wrist and foot. Savanah said she also hurt her shoulder while her pal hurt her knee.
“We were all just sat on the plane,” she said. “They made an announcement saying we’re going to go in five minutes.
“All of a sudden I heard a bang. It didn’t worry me too much. Then everyone was screaming and running. The air stewardess screamed, ‘get off the plane’, leave your belongings. It was utter chaos.
“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.”
Doctors said the group were not safe to fly back to Manchester until July 7, according to Savanah. She continued: “My mum lost her phone. They told me I couldn’t get it because the plane could set on fire.
“Even one of the staff had to get treated. My mum couldn’t walk. My friends mum couldn’t walk. We said we needed an ambulance. Eventually an ambulance took us to the airport medical centre. It was also chaos in there, one single room.”
Ryanair said the flight was discontinued due to a “false fire warning light indication”. The airline added: “his 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.”
A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency response coordination centre confirmed early this morning: “We received an alert about a fire on a plane on the ground at Palma airport at 00.36am today.
“Four ambulances were sent to the scene which were two basic life support units and two advanced life support unit.
“Eighteen people were injured and received medical assistance of whom six were taken to hospital. They were all minor. Three went to the Clinica Rotger and three to the Palmaplanas Hospital.”