Passengers have described as “stressful” a morning flight from Portugal that repeatedly couldn’t land at Dublin Airport on Sunday because of Storm Ashley. The plane was twice diverted to English airports.
One passenger on the 9.35am Sunday morning Ryanair flight from Faro, Portugal, suffered a medical emergency as it made its second attempt at Dublin Airport at its scheduled landing time of around midday, after which it then diverted to Manchester Airport.
The passengers then stayed on the plane in Manchester before it left again at around 5pm, only to be unable once again to land in Dublin, because of the high winds, and diverting back to England again.
This time, it was to Birmingham Airport, landing there at around 7.30pm.
Gerry Hutch considers general election run to unseat Mary Lou McDonald in Dublin
Storm Ashley live updates: More than 29,000 without power as flights cancelled at Dublin, Cork and Belfast airports
Simon Harris signals election will be in 2024 after ‘couple of things’ remaining for Government
The trials of Stephen Roche: ‘There are things I’ve done the last few years I’m not proud of’
The aircraft was still on the ground in Birmingham when some of the passengers spoke to The Irish Times at around 10.30pm, at which time they were awaiting take-off and another attempt to land in Dublin.
By that stage, according to Michael O’Brien (67), from Ballyogan, Dublin, approximately 30 per cent of the passengers had left the plane and decided to spend the night in Birmingham.
“They have been told they will get no expenses, that this plane is going back to Dublin, with or without them,” he said. “There are babies on board this plane. There is no food, no water, no toilet paper.”
Another passenger, Darren Hennessy (29), from Galway, said the flight had been “stressful for everyone. Most people were panicking when it was going down to land the second time, it didn’t feel safe.”
At no stage did the wheels of the plane touch the runway, he said. “We never got to that stage. The plane was shaking around all over the place.”
The call with The Irish Times had to end at that stage as the plane was about to take off again for Dublin.
“Hopefully we’ll make it this time,” said Mr O’Brien.
The plane landed at Dublin Airport at 11.45pm on Sunday night,
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
