A passenger onboard a plane that attempted to land at Manchester Airport amid ferocious winds said people were “praying” as Storm Eunice sent the “screaming” passengers “up and down in their seats.”
The TUI pilot tried twice to land the aircraft from Morocco on Friday amid heavy downpours and wind speeds of more than 100mph before it was diverted to Glasgow in the face of unrelenting conditions.
Storm Eunice brought with it the strongest winds experienced in Britain for over 30 years, prompting the Met Office to issue two “red” weather warnings (posing possible danger to life) in south Wales and southwest England, as well as in London and the southeast.
“The turbulence from the wind was horrendous. People were panicking and screaming. It’s the worst flight I have ever been on and everyone said the same thing,” an unnamed passenger onboard Flight BY669 from Marrakesh told the Manchester Evening News.
“I heard one child asking their parents ‘are we going to die’ and that really brought things home.”
“Kids and adults were vomiting. People were having panic attacks. Strangers were holding hands and families leant over to hold hands across the aisle. People were praying. It was just a horrible experience.”
He proceeded to tell the newspaper that the airline had failed to provide sick bags, so passengers resorted to duty free bags and were otherwise sick onto the floor of the aircraft.
“Everyone was helping each other, sharing tissues, sweets, talking to each other and helping each other through,” he said.
Following the second attempt to ground the flight in Manchester, passengers were told the plane was being diverted. It landed safely at Glasgow Airport at around 5.30pm on Friday afternoon.
It came as dozens of flights were cancelled and more than 100 delayed at Heathrow and Gatwick airports on the same day.
British Airways said the rate at which aircrafts were permitted to land at Heathrow Airport was “being reduced due to gale force winds”.
At least 65 flights, both departures and arrivals, were cancelled at Heathrow Airport on Friday and a further 114 were delayed by more than 15 minutes, according to aviation data provider FlightStats by Cirium.
There were 15 cancellations and 67 delayed flights at Gatwick.
The Independent contacted TUI for comment.
The travel operator told the Manchester Evening News in a statement: “We’re aware that due to Storm Eunice TUI Airways TOM669 from Marrakech to Manchester was diverted to Glasgow, as the safety of our and crew is our number one priority. Our crew offered support onboard, and all passengers were safely disembarked.”
