Nineteen people were removed from an easyjet holiday flight from Lanzarote because the plane was "too heavy to take off".
Passengers had boarded and were due to depart at 9.45pm on Wednesday when the the captain made the shock announcement and asked for volunteers to disembark. He went on to explain the problem was a result of a short runway, weight and adverse weather conditions.
Video footage of the announcement shows passengers muttering and shaking their heads at the news, but fortunately enough passengers offered to volunteer so the majority could get home, the Liverpool Echo reports.
The pilot can be heard explaining: "Thank you all for getting here today. Because there are so many of you it's a pretty heavy aircraft we've got today. That heavy aircraft combined with a pretty short runway here in Lanzarote, and some winds which aren't particularly favourable at the moment, mean that with the current environmental conditions here in Lanzarote, the aircraft is too heavy to depart.
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"Now I've been sat with my senior first officer in the flight deck and we're very experienced with this and have done this before, but we've been doing our very best to make an attempt as safely - safety obviously being our number one priority - as possible, and there's no way with the currents wind conditions, and the environmental conditions here in Lanzarote, that we could make this aircraft get airborne at the moment.
"As I say, a combination of factors, it's very hot, so that doesn't help, the wind isn't fantastic, the direction is not great, so that's not helping either.
"Now, you might be wondering what's next and that's what I've come in here to say. I've spoken to our operations team at easyJet and of course the one way to solve a problem with a heavy aircraft is to make it slightly lighter.
"If possible, I would like to ask for up to, potentially, 20 volunteers to choose not to fly to Liverpool tonight. If anyone does want to do that, if anybody does want to volunteer, there will of course be an incentive for you to do that, and that is something we'll be able to let you know about.
"The current number that we've been quoted by easyJet is that they're willing to offer up to €500 per passenger who is willing to not fly tonight. I appreciate you may have lots of questions but that's the information I've got."
The flight to John Lennon Airport eventually got off the ground around 11.30pm and landed safely at its destination without issue.
The spokesperson said: " easyJet can confirm that 19 passengers on flight EZY3364 from Lanzarote to Liverpool on Wednesday evening volunteered to travel on a later flight as a result of the aircraft being over the weight limits for the weather conditions.
"This is a routine operational decision in these circumstances and weight restrictions are in place for all airlines for safety reasons. In the event that a flight would exceed weight limits, we ask for passengers to volunteer to transfer to a later flight free of charge, which is what happened on this occasion and volunteers are provided with compensation in line with regulations.
"The safety and welfare of our passengers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority."
