An Aer Lingus passenger revealed the scary moment he believed his flight from Zurich to Dublin would have to emergency land in the sea.
An audio message was played during the flight, but many people didn't hear the warning as they had earphones in.
Fearghal O’Lideacha explained to the Irish Times: “I was sitting down near the back with my son, who had headphones on.”
The Dubliner said as far as he can recall the message said: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is an emergency. Please prepare for a ditched landing.”
He said the message was mistakenly played over the intercom on the plane, and minutes later passengers were told to ignore the announcement.
While there was little reaction as many passengers had music and films playing, Mr. O’Lideacha said he spotted one woman and her children sitting across from him that were clearly distressed.
“I could see the distress on her face,” he told The Irish Times.
Flight attendants were approached by a worried passenger checking on the status of the flight after the message was played, and Fearghal said he was relieved to see no worry on his face as he returned to his seat.
“Then one of the flight crew made an announcement that we should ignore the earlier announcement.
“That was a big relief. I’d say it was about two minutes later," he said.
In response to the incident, a spokeswoman for Aer Lingus said that during that particular flight, a pre-recorded announcement was momentarily played by accident.
They said: “A follow-up announcement was made advising passengers of the error.
"At no point during the flight was there any risk to the safety of the aircraft or those on board.”
The flight went on to land without any issues and was on schedule at Dublin Airport.
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter.
