EIGHTEEN people were injured after a fire alert onboard a Ryanair plane bound for Manchester sent passengers into panic in Majorca.
The alarm went off just after midnight on the runway of Palma Airport and passengers were forced to evacuate.
Passengers were filmed clambering out of the plane onto one of its wings before jumping to the tarmac as firefighters and police rushed to the scene.
Local emergency teams said 18 people needed treatment for injuries, with six being taken to hospital.
Footage uploaded to social media shows terrified passengers leaping from the plane’s wing down onto the tarmac, before sprinting away.
In the clip, an airport worker can be heard saying: “Do you know the plane has emergency exits?
“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.”
The video shows other passengers using an emergency exit slide on the other side of the plane, which is the usual procedure.
The mother of one passenger on the flight said her daughter, who had been on a mini-break with her boyfriend, said flight attendants “froze” after the alert.
She said: “People were falling over each other to get off, running all over the place.
“One attendant shouted, ‘Get off’, the other froze and she didn’t know what was going on.
“She looked as shocked as the passengers.”
The shell-shocked mother added: “My daughter called me and said,
‘Mum, I’m trying to get down the slide, I might not survive this and I love you’.”
“It was horrible. I couldn’t sleep all night, even after I knew she was safe. They got no support when she got in the airport.”
It was confirmed this morning the plane was about to leave the airport for Manchester.
Airline staff onboard the plane are said to have alerted the emergency services with a call at 12.35am this morning.
Four ambulances were sent to the scene along with airport-based firefighters and police.
A spokesman for a Majorca’s emergency response crews said 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.”
A spokesperson for Ryanair 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.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14634206/people-injured-fire-ryanair-plane-majorca-airport/
