Traumatised passengers last night hit out at Ryanair after they were seriously injured jumping off the wings of a holiday jet when panic spread about a suspected fire onboard.
Danielle Kelly, 56, said people started ‘jumping for their lives’ after an air steward ran along the aisle and told them to evacuate the Manchester-bound flight as fast as possible.
The flight, from Palma in Majorca, was already delayed by two hours but was taxiing to the runway shortly after midnight on Saturday when there was a loud bang and cabin crew ordered everyone to leave immediately.
Mrs Kelly, a self-employed fitness instructor, who was sat in row 18 with her daughter, Frankie, 26, said she feared there was a terrorist onboard so followed other passengers out onto the wing in the chaos.
‘I saw a member of the cabin crew run from the back to the front of the plane, he was on the phone and suddenly started shouting, “everyone get off the aircraft now, everyone evacuate.”
‘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.’
Cabin crew deployed the emergency shutes at the front doors but passengers sitting in the middle were left with no choice but to jump the 18ft from the wings onto the tarmac.
Stewardesses told travellers to leave behind their belongings ‘in case there is a fire and the plane explodes’ which, passengers said, only added to the panic.
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
Danielle Kelly, 56, suffered a broken right heel, fractured left wrist and smashed elbow, when she plummeted to the concrete below
The self-employed fitness instructor, who was sat in row 18 with her daughter, Frankie, 26, said she feared there was a terrorist onboard so followed other passengers out onto the wing in the chaos
Mrs Kelly, who had been on a week-long holiday in the resort of Portals with her daughter, Frankie, 26, friend Francine Elkinson, 57, and her daughter, Savannah, 26, suffered a broken right heel, fractured left wrist and smashed elbow, when she plummeted to the concrete below.
Speaking from her hospital bed, in Palma, this evening Mrs Kelly, of Whitefield, Greater Manchester, added: ‘There was no announcement from the pilot or any of the other cabin crew. The door nearest to us opened and everyone ran onto the wing and started jumping off.
‘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 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.’
Mrs Elkinson, 57, also suffered a bad break to her right foot and underwent a three-hour operation on Saturday, when surgeons inserted pins and plates to repair it.
The company director said: ‘People were screaming, “get off the plane now,” there was no organisation, everyone was scrambling and screaming, it was complete chaos. There was no guidance about what to do from the captain or the crew.
‘I was petrified, my daughter went first and was standing on the tarmac telling me to jump and she would catch me. I hit the floor and my foot blew up, I thought I had snapped it. I couldn’t walk and my daughter had to drag me away.
‘I was put on an airport ambulance but it took about 40 minutes for the paramedics to arrive. Danielle was crying she was in so much pain, it was horrendous.
Mrs Elkinson, 57, also suffered a bad break to her right foot and underwent a three-hour operation on Saturday, when surgeons inserted pins and plates to repair it
Passengers rushed to evacuate the plane, with six needing to be taken to hospital for treatment
‘The way Ryanair have delt with it is terrible, saying that people only suffered minor injuries and the evacuation was under control. Absolute rubbish, they are just trying to play it down because no one knew what they were doing.’
Another passenger, who didn’t want to be named, told the Mail she suffered a double fracture to her pelvis and broke a bone in her lower back when she jumped from the wing.
‘A member of the cabin crew was screaming on the Tannoy for everyone to get off the plane, they were saying, “leave your bags, the plane could explode”, which obviously just made everyone panic,’ she said.
‘People were clambering over each other to the exits, it was chaotic.
‘I’m usually a rational thinking person. No one wants to throw themselves off the wing of a plane unless the alternative is worse – everyone was led to believe it was an emergency and they had to get out immediately.
‘When we got onto a bus back to the terminal people were asking a member of the cabin crew how it happened and saying it was awful. But he simply said, “we did our best, we are only human.” But there was no direction from the crew and they just weren’t very competent. There was no clear guidance, it was every man for himself.’
She said doctors had told her it could be three months before she is walking again and plans to take legal action against the airline.
In total 18 people were injured, with six people hospitalised as a consequence of the way the evacuation was handled. At least one female member of the cabin crew is thought to be among the injured.
The incident happened at Palma Airport in Mallorca in the early hours of Saturday morning
So far none of those in hospital have been visited by a representative of Ryanair, although the airline has been in touch to offer them alternative flights home and an ‘insulting’ £4 food voucher.
A Ryanair spokesman 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 Saturday morning.
‘We sincerely apologise to affected passengers for any inconvenience caused.’
