A couple were left terrified with a flight which hit major turbulence as violent storms hit during the heatwave. Eileen Felton, 61, and her husband Carl were flying back from Palma, Mallorca when their Ryanair jet hit ‘horrendous’ conditions in the air.
Eileen and Carl were due to land at Liverpool John Lennon airport just after 6pm when the storm hit. The area had been basking in 28C temperatures all day but at that point torrential rain began to fall amid an amber weather warning for thunderstorms.
The heat led to rapidly rising air leading to severe turbulance for the flight. The country was lashed with thunder and heavy rain over the weekend and in the area of the Ryanair flight Lightning struck a Merseyside church, the Bootle Music Festival was cancelled and roads flooded, the Echo reported.
The plane was forced to abort plans to land and a screenshot from Flight Radar page showed the Ryanair flight from Palma circling around the North West at around 8pm as it tried to land in Speke. Take off had been delayed at Mallorca and it eventually was only able to land at 8.12pm - two hours later than planned.
Eileen, who has two children and comes from Runcorn said: “We had been away to Alcudia in a group of seven. We were delayed leaving but it got worse. As we got over the North West, they said ‘we’re coming into turbulence, please take your seats. That was before we hit the turbulence itself.
“Once we hit it, it was horrendous. I was holding the life out of my husband’s hands. Luckily one of our friends on the trip works as a crew member on planes and he was able to explain what was going on.
“There was a family in front of us and the kids were so scared, they were screaming. The plane was bouncing up and down in the wind, it was going on for about 50 minutes - my fear level went through the roof.”
She added: “The screenshot from Flight Radar shows the plane’s journey around the region. It looped over North Wales, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Widnes and Warrington as it tried to land safely.
“Every time we would go down to land, it would go up again. My daughter was waiting for us at home and she said she saw the flight go over the house twice.
“After 50 minutes of going around, when we eventually came into land, it was like I was braking with the pilot. My feet were pressing down into the floor - I was petrified.
“When we did land, there was a massive cheer and clap. I’ve never been so scared. I was so relieved to get off the plane. The pilot did his best, thank god - going up and down before he could land. But it was just scary all around”.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from Palma de Mallorca to Liverpool (10 Jun) experienced minor turbulence when landing due to the strong winds at Liverpool Airport. The crew followed Air Traffic Control’s instructions and circled for a short period before landing normally.”
The storm calmed finally between 9pm and 10pm.
