A man from the Wirral feared his plane would burst into 'a big ball of flames' after it encountered 'absolutely terrifying' difficulties during lift off.
Andrew Packham, 55, said he was left 'shaking' when the captain of his Ryanair flight had to perform emergency measures just moments before the plane's wheels lifted from the ground. Andrew was travelling to Rome from Liverpool John Lennon Airport when a 'flock of birds' hit the engine, causing what another passenger described as an 'almighty shuddering'.
He also praised the quick-thinking of the captain, who managed to rescue the flight in a 'fraction of a second' decision after the engine was damaged. He said he didn't even want to think about what would have happened if the birds had hit the engine just moments later, when the plane was in flight.
READ MORE: Mum will 'never get over' losing son who drowned on family holiday
Andrew, who first posted about the terriying experience on Facebook page Wallasey Gossip, told the ECHO: "We'd got the slightly delayed flight from Liverpool to Rome and the pilot had opened the throttle and the airplane was literally about two-thirds of the way down the runway. The front wheels were just about to leave the ground.
"There was a slight bang to start off with then within moments there was this massive raucous, shaking, thudding banging explosion noise coming from the left wing. I cannot describe the noise that the engine made with a bird inside.
"The whole plane shook, it was like being on a motorway going at 200 miles an hour and your tyre blows out.
"It was just phenomenal, the noise was phenomenal the braking was phenomenal. It was like being in a fairground ride. If you've ever been on [rollercoaster] Rita at Alton Towers, that incredible acceleration as the plane takes off and that incredible deceleration as it stops almost immediately.
"The pilot slammed the brakes on, he did this emergency stop which was the most controlled emergency stop I've ever seen. We went from hundreds of miles an hour down to zero in what tiny space was left of the runway.
"And the 300 odd people that were in the airplane were just silenced, and I won't lie, it was absolutely terrifying.
"Let's not beat about the bush, it was terrifying. It was only when we'd come to a standstill and we were getting off the plane that you could see people's legs wobbling when they were realising what could have been, if it wasn't for the pilot.
"He had to make that call in a fraction of a second because the plane was just about to lift off. If it had lifted off and if it happened a few moments later goodness knows what would've happened.
"The captain was very good, he did come on and explain what happened, it turns out that there was a flock of birds that hit the engine. He made an announcement, saying there might've been a fire in the nose cone and then we realised that the approaching fire engines were coming to the plane that we were sat on.
"You cant help but think, 'oh hang on, are we all going to go up in a big ball of flame here? Are we all going to be toast?'"
But, surprisingly, the experience he called 'absolutely terrifying' has not put him off flying in the future. In fact, just hours later he was on the next flight to Rome.
He said: "The thing is, we didn't have a choice but to fly. But, honestly, it did make for a very nerve-wracking second flight attempt, but it didn't put us off, one of the cabin crew even said 'oh this happens from time to time'".
Liverpool John Lennon Airport confirmed there was no emergency landing but said the flight "suffered a suspected bird strike on take off so the flight was postponed". Ryanair were also approached for comment.
