An easyJet flight from Paphos, Cyprus, to Bristol Airport on Saturday (June 14) had to make an emergency landing in Izmir, Turkey, just an hour and 20 minutes into the scheduled journey.
Jamie Shorland, who had travelled to Cyprus with a friend to visit his grandfather, was on the return leg when smoke alarms were triggered. However, the airline staff did not inform passengers about the situation.
The 21 year old from Exeter explained that the flight, initially delayed by 30 minutes, took off at 10.30pm. It was when the plane was west of Turkey that he sensed something was amiss.
Jamie recounted: “The air cabin crew were told to put away the catering trolleys, whilst we were told no information at all, then we were told to brace for an emergency landing.”, reports Bristol Live.
“We were above the water so we thought we’d crash into the sea, there was pure panic and none of the crew were helpful.
“I thought to myself ‘this is how it ends’, people were screaming ‘we are going to die!'”.
“One father rushed up the plane to hug his kids and the airline staff told him to go back to his seat. He told them to ‘f**k off, if I am going to die I am going to be with my kids.'”.
Passenger Jamie recounted a harrowing experience when his flight suddenly made a 180-degree turn towards Turkey and began flying sideways. In a matter of minutes, the aircraft plummeted 15,000 feet, causing panic on board.
“I saw cabin crew crying at the back of the plane thinking they were going to die, however the plane flew into Izmir and landed at the airport,” Jamie recalled.
He described the ordeal as traumatic: “It was a traumatic experience, I genuinely thought I was going to die.
“I was trying to think happy thoughts of my family as we fell through the sky.
“It was a load of mayhem, the plane had no lights and it was a scary time.”
Jamie said passengers on the flight were not told where they were when they landed, but as the plane made its way down the runway, emergency services followed the aircraft until it stopped, and firefighters stormed onto the plane.
The cause of the emergency was not immediately disclosed to the passengers, who were not permitted to disembark while the source of the smoke filling the cockpit was investigated.
It took 20 minutes after landing for Jamie and his fellow passengers to learn about the suspected fault, believed to be related to the cooling system.
EasyJet arranged accommodation for the affected passengers across three hotels, with Jamie being informed he could stay until 6pm on Sunday, ahead of the rescheduled flight around 10pm.
Passengers were unexpectedly instructed to vacate the hotel at 12pm, as reported by Jamie, leading to hours spent awaiting a delayed flight at the airport now rescheduled for 11pm.
Jamie remarked: “I did not want to leave Izmir, I thought ‘I might not make it’.”
The airline has come under fire for its apparent indifference. Jamie expressed disappointment with easyJet’s response to the ordeal, noting the difficulty in communicating with the company post-incident.
Jamie recounted: “They’ve been no help at all, the pilot [of the initial flight] even made a joke after landing telling everyone to buy a lottery ticket because ‘we got lucky’, I couldn’t believe it.”
The re-scheduled flight from Turkey eventually landed in Bristol Airport at 12.30am on Monday morning with Jamie eventually reaching Exeter just before 3am.
Jamie said: “It was my friend’s first time flying in 12 years.
“We will never get on a plane again, I’ve never been so scared of flying, it was the worst experience of my life.”
easyJet issued a statement on Saturday, June 15, confirming the technical difficulties: “We can confirm that flight EZY2902 from Paphos to Bristol diverted to Izmir due to a technical issue which resulted in a smoke smell onboard.”
The carrier assured: “The aircraft landed safely in Izmir and was met by emergency services as a routine and precautionary measure only.”
They added reassurances about passenger care: “All passengers disembarked as normal into the terminal and were provided with hotel accommodation and meals where required.
“Passengers will continue to Bristol on a replacement aircraft later today.
“The safety of our customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all manufacturers’ guidelines.
“We would like to thank customers for their understanding and apologise for the inconvenience caused.”