Passengers tell of mass panic after loud bang on plane during take-off at Stansted

The emergency slides were deployed during the evacuation of a plane following a "loud bang" during take-off
PA
Hatty Collier2 March 2019

Terrified air passengers have told of mass panic after they were forced to flee a plane at Stansted airport following a loud bang during take-off.

Eight people were injured after the pilot of the flight abandoned take-off as a “big bang” rocked the cabin.

Anja Kohlfurst told the Daily Mirror that everyone panicked as cabin crew screamed at them to “evacuate” and “jump” using the emergency slides.

Emergency services vehicles on the runway
PA

"They were just screaming evacuate and jump and pushing people to the slides.

"We were just hearing a bang and we saw something that looked like an explosion.

"After sliding out, we were just standing on the field and everyone was panicking.”

Ms Kohlhurst told the newspaper that everything went “smoothly” once the emergency crew arrived and that passengers were taken inside the airport and given water and sandwiches.

Another passenger tweeted: "Mid take-off at Stansted, our plane had a huge bang, skidded to a stop and had to evacuate down the slides, with my friend opening the emergency door."

They described it as a "very scary experience" and that the cabin crew "screamed" at them to evacuate.

Passenger Thomas Steer said after around 15 seconds of acceleration there was a "big bang on the side of the aircraft which skidded to a stop" shortly after 8pm.

The estate agent, 24, from Essex, said: "It was scary. And then staff shouting 'evacuate evacuate'.

"My friend opened the emergency exit and we slid down the slides, a few old people fell over and the fire brigade treated them.

"No-one was seriously injured, just minor things."

An airport spokesman said it had received reports that eight people suffered minor injuries in the incident.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it was sending a team to investigate

Shortly before 11pm, Stansted tweeted "Our runway has now re-opened and is fully operational.

"We are extremely sorry for the disruption caused by the incident but our first priority is always the safety of the passengers and staff."

Images posted to social media by delayed passengers showed several people standing on grass by the runway as emergency service crews and flashing lights surrounded the plane.

Flights to Stansted were diverted to other airports during the disruption.

Airline Laudamotion tweeted: "The crew of OE flight from Stansted to Vienna (1.3.) decided to abort the take off due to engine issues and to disembark the passengers on the runway as a precautionary measure.

"Passengers were transferred to the terminal by bus and will be reaccommodated onto a replacement flight."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT