The passenger said she was flung out of her seat when the plane suddenly dropped – Ryanair has stated the plane was forced to make a U-turn due to air turbulence
A passenger aboard the Ryanair flight forced to return to the United Kingdom after a mid-flight emergency has said the experience ‘felt like something out of a horror movie’.
The Boeing 737 MAX, which departed from Birmingham Airport at about 2.50pm on Sunday, December 28, issued a 7700 squawk over Brittany, France, after reaching an altitude of 35,000ft. This code signifies a general emergency.
The Boeing was bound for Tenerife but was forced to return to the UK mid-flight.
“It felt like something you see on a horror movie,” said a 33-year-old passenger from Lichfield, who did not wish to be named.
“We were smooth cruising then out of nowhere all of a sudden the plane jerked to the left extremely quickly and then to the right, it felt like a loss of control, and then we plummeted down and we were flung out of our seats,” the passenger said.
Passengers informed The Aviation Herald that flight FR1121 experienced turbulence, resulting in injuries to several individuals while cabin service was underway. The flight then made a U-turn and descended to FL100 (flying at 10,000ft).
The aircraft safely touched down back at Birmingham around one hour and 32 minutes after take-off. According to AirLive, it was parked on a remote stand at the airport for paramedics to attend to passengers. The severity of the passengers’ injuries is yet to be determined.
“I came out physically unharmed but the mental toll this has taken it awful… this has really traumatised me,” the woman said.
“The cabin crew said within their 10 years as cabin crew they’ve never experienced anything like it.”
She said other passengers claimed to see a fighter jet pass the Boeing before the incident, but this has not been confirmed.
Ryanair said in a statement: “”FR1121 from Birmingham to Tenerife on 28th December returned to Birmingham Airport shortly after take-off due to air turbulence.
“The aircraft landed normally before passengers disembarked and returned to the terminal, where a small number of passengers were provided with medical assistance. This flight continued to Tenerife at 21:06 local.”
The Mirror has reached out to the airline for further comment.