MEMBERS of a group of 22 Irish horse breeders and bloodstock agents on an aircraft which made an emergency landing in the US last week say they are "seriously relieved" that no one was badly injured. Most of the group are due to arrive back in Dublin today.
The flight last Thursday from London to Cincinnati made an emergency landing at the space shuttle base at Dayton, Ohio, due to a technical problem caused by severe weather.
After an hour, passengers were told to evacuate the aircraft immediately as a tornado was expected to hit the base. The tornado, however, turned away from the base and passengers were allowed to head on to their final destination.
The group was on Delta Flight 37 from London to Cincinnati and was travelling to the Keeneland Horse Sales in the Ohio city.
An hour before the flight was due to land, the pilot announced that a technical fault had been discovered, which caused the aircraft to nosedive every time the pilot tried to "slow down" the engines.
Mr Harry McCalmont chairman of the Curragh Bloodstock Agency, said the flight was "very frightening". He said: "We have been told that the landing was basically a controlled crash, in other words if we didn't land at the shuttle base we were in serious trouble. But it was quite strange as everyone remained quiet during it all. I would describe it as quiet panic on the plane."
A large proportion of the group booked return flights with Aer Lingus and many of them have demanded a full refund from Delta.
A spokesman for Delta in Atlanta, Georgia, said severe weather conditions caused the technical problems. He said he did not see any reason why passengers would be refunded.