Holidaymakers flying home from Greece to Dublin told yesterday of scenes of hysteria when their aircraft suddenly dropped thousands of feet and then made an emergency landing in Majorca.
After waiting several hours at Palma Airport the passengers were then told they had to get back on the same aircraft in spite of their fear to continue their flight to Dublin. They arrived back early yesterday morning.
They were coming home after holidays on Zakynthos, a Greek island. The holidays were mostly booked through Budget Travel, and the passengers flew with Futura, a Spanish airline.
One of the passengers, Mr Jack Conroy, from Co Clare, said everything was fine when the aircraft took off early on Saturday evening. Then after about 35 minutes, it started to descend quite rapidly.
"Cabin members told us that there was a drop in air pressure, and it was imperative that we get down to 10,000 feet and we were up at 23,000 feet. We dropped rapidly, and the oxygen masks came down. Everyone was in hysterics, and it was incredibly scary," he said.
After circling for two hours, the aircraft landed at Palma. One Futura rep was there. Passengers had very little money and were very hungry.
"We were told if we did not want to get back on the plane, then we could get our luggage and make our own way back to Ireland at our own expense," Mr Conroy said,
Mr Seamus Small and his wife, Helen, were also on the flight. Mr Small said: "It didn't go into a nose dive but it came down fast and the sound of the engine changed. People were crying and shaking."
The general director of Futura airlines in Palma, Mr Roman Pane, said yesterday: "It was a problem with the computer which recorded pressure, not a problem with the pressure. It is something that we will have to investigate."