A pregnant woman “collapsed” while on a plane that got stuck waiting on the tarmac for six hours at Manchester Airport.
The lengthy delay occurred onboard a Brussels Airlines flight to Brussels, after a Cathay Pacific plane that was due to fly to Hong Kong experienced a fault.
The Brussels flight and a TUI flight to Cape Verde were both behind the Cathay jet on the taxiway, unable to take-off.
Chris Brereton, a passenger onboard the Belgium-bound flight, told the Manchester Evening News that a pregnant woman had “collapsed” during the hours-long wait.
He said: “The poor pregnant lady collapsed and two people on board stepped up to help her. This was after hours of being sat on the tarmac behind the broken plane.
“The captain kept saying ,‘They’re coming to get you soon,’ but it just never happened. The lady then collapsed at the front of the plane and thank God there were trained people on board who knew what they were doing.
“It’s an unbelievable credit to everybody on board that it stayed so calm and civilised because it could easily have kicked off.”
Brussels Airlines confirmed that medical assistance was given to a pregnant woman onboard the plane.
“There was indeed a pregnant passenger on board who needed medical assistance. The paramedics attended to her on board and later in the ambulance parked in front of the aircraft,” said a spokesperson.
Originally due to depart at 12.30pm, the aircraft was eventually towed back to the terminal just before 6pm, with passengers given the option to carry on waiting or to deplane and make alternative arrangements.
Mr Brereton stayed onboard the flight, determined to take his planned trip to Bruges, but the plane didn’t take off until after 8pm – almost eight hours after its scheduled departure time.
A Brussels Airlines spokesperson said: “As mentioned before, a Cathay Pacific aircraft was blocking the runway due to technical issues which meant our aircraft OOSND (flight SN2174) was also blocked for several hours on the Manchester runway. Due to UK Safety Regulations it wasn’t possible to get towed back to the terminal.
“Despite the difficult situation, we did our utmost best to find solutions for all our passengers. The passengers with connecting flights, were rebooked on other flights. Only the ones having Brussels as their final destination, left with our own flight to Brussels in the evening.”
They added: “The aircraft was eventually pushed back around 20.00 – after disembarking all passengers and baggage with connecting flights, disembarking passengers who no longer wished to travel that day, refuelling and de-icing – for take-off to Brussels.”
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport said: “We regret any disruption caused to passengers as a result of this incident, caused by a technical issue with a Cathay Pacific aircraft. The safety of everyone on our site is a top priority and all necessary procedures were followed to ensure the safety of passengers, aircraft and the surrounding airfield operation.”
