Major panic, people screaming, crying and praying. For example, a plane from Eindhoven landed at Mallorca airport on Sunday evening in a heavy storm. Wind speeds of up to 143 kilometers per hour caused the Ryan Air plane to shake violently and cause severe turbulence, much to the alarm of passengers, video footage shows.
26-year-old Águeda Pastor was on board and reported the Spanish newspaper Crónica Balear how great the panic was during the turbulent flight. She returned from the Netherlands last Sunday and flew back to Palma from Eindhoven.
“Many people thought their last hour had come”
The journey was normal until they approached Mallorca. A heavy storm raged on the island, with wind gusts well over 100 kilometers per hour. “We were warned that there would be some turbulence,” said the woman, who also made video recordings of the panic in the plane. “I’ve traveled a lot, but I’ve never seen anything like this. It was an absolute nightmare. Many people thought their last hour had come.”
Waiting for privacy settings…
After the plane flew around the island, the landing was aborted and the pilot contacted the passengers again. He informed them of the complications the high winds had caused and that they would try again. If that didn’t work, they would move to Valencia.
“When we landed it was like we were falling through the air for five seconds.”
The panic increased when the plane came close to the runway during the second landing attempt. “There was a super abrupt descent, like we were falling through the air for about five seconds.” Then the plane started to shake violently back and forth.
“Children were crying, everyone was screaming… A girl sitting next to me started praying. I thought: as long as the masks don’t come out, I’ll be fine.”
Ultimately, the pilot managed to land the plane in Palma. “Half of the people came out crying, the rest still couldn’t believe what had happened. There were also people who were throwing up,” Pastor said.
In a response to De Telegraaf a Ryanair spokesperson said that the situation was not too bad. “The crew of the flight from Eindhoven to Palma de Mallorca on December 22 performed a go-around due to turbulence upon landing,” the spokesperson said. “On the second approach, the landing was normal, in accordance with Ryanair’s procedure. ”