Jet2 plane evacuated. Airline says: ‘Safe arrival’. Passengers say: ‘Sheer carnage’
There are two sides to every story, and the emergency evacuation of a Jet2 passenger aircraft at East Midlands Airport on Wednesday is a good example.
Here is how Jet2 described it: ‘Following a safe arrival at East Midlands Airport of flight LS644 we decided to disembark passengers as quickly as possible, as a precautionary safety measure, because a minor electrical problem led to some smoke in the cabin.’
And here is how passenger Kyle Charles, from Strelley Village in Nottinghamshire, was quoted by BBC as saying: ‘We circled above the above the airport and tried but failed to land. When we landed it turned into sheer carnage.’
Another passenger, Malcolm Yates, from Lincolnshire, is quoted by MailOnline saying: ‘When we did come into land, it was quite erratic. We soon saw the fire engines lined up. The lights were all out. Then the doors didn’t open. People started to panic… screaming “get the kids off”.’
The plane was supposed to land at East Midlands Airport, but the use of evacuation slides means that passengers disembarked in a far-from-normal way.
Other passengers spoke of a strong smell of burning and smoke in the cabin, and of at least one passenger who opened a wing door himself so that people could escape.
When the plane landed at 9.10pm the crew followed emergency procedures, and passengers left via evacuation slides at the front and rear of the aircraft.
But reports say that some passengers opened doors over the wings and exited that way.
The incident also led to other planes being delayed or diverted.
Jet2 said the incident was due to an electrical problem, and that a full investigation was under way.
