Multiple Britons were left with broken bones after being told to rapidly evacuate a delayed Ryanair flight following rumours of a fire onboard.
Passengers were screaming as they jumped from the plane’s wing, witnesses said. The aircraft was due to fly from Palma de Mallorca Airport to Manchester on Friday night.
Eighteen people are believed to have been injured in the incident, with at least two UK citizens reporting broken bones – rather than the ‘very minor injuries (ankle sprains, etc.)’ initially cited by Ryanair.
The airline operator said that the fire alert was a ‘false alarm’ and claimed that ‘passengers were disembarked using the inflatable slides’ – despite video footage of travelllers jumping from the wing in their panic to escape.
The delayed flight was due to take off late on Friday night before passengers heard a loud bang. Crew told passengers to ‘brace’ before flight attendants instructed them to start leaving the aircraft.
Emergency services were called to the scene at 12:35am and six people were taken to hospital, local authorities said.
Savanah, 26, from Whitefield, Greater Manchester, was on the flight with her friend and both their mums, who had been away with their friends.
She told the Manchester Evening News that her 57-year-old mum has broken her ankle in three places and is now having surgery, while her friend’s mum fractured her elbow, wrist and foot.
Eighteen people were injured after passengers rapidly dismbarked from a Ryanair flight at Majorca airport following a fire alert that turned out to be a false alarm
Savanah said she also hurt her shoulder while her friend hurt her knee.
She said: ‘We were all just sat on the plane. 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 are not safe to fly back to Manchester until Monday, according to Savanah.
Passengers rushed to evacuate the plane, with six needing to be taken to hospital for treatment
She added: ‘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.’
Warnings of the blaze came just after midnight, with passengers filmed abandoning the plane via one of its wings before jumping to the tarmac.
Four ambulances were mobilised and sent to the plane along with airport-based firefighters and the Civil Guard.
Regional medical emergency response co-ordinators said 18 people were treated for minor injuries, with six taken to hospital.
Three were taken to a private clinic in Palma called Clínica Rotger and the other three to Hospital Quironsalud Palmplanas.
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.
The incident happened at Palma Airport in Mallorca in the early hours of Saturday morning
‘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.’
Ryanair have since said the fire alert was a false alarm.
A spokesperson for the said: ‘This flight from Palma to Manchester 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 confused airport worker was overheard telling a colleague in a walkie-talkie message: ‘Do you know the plane has emergency exits?’ as frightened travellers were filmed jumping to the tarmac from one of its wings in their rush to get away.
He added: ‘Plane about to leave from apron ten or eight and now the people are jumping from the wing onto the ground.
‘Something’s happening, something’s happening, they’re evacuating the plane. Now the firefighters are coming.’
Ryanair have been contacted for further comment.
