Flybe passengers speak of evacuation

PASSENGERS onboard the Flybe flight which made an emergency landing at Isle of Man Airport broke down in tears after being evacuated.

The flight, which was en route to Belfast, was diverted after crew thought they could smell smoke.

Manchester DJ John Hamilton said the captain told passengers they were landing as scheduled at Belfast Airport.

He said: 'We took off and it was quite a good flight. Then some people started complaining about a smell in the air conditioning, saying they could smell electrical burning.'

He said that the crew started to bring out food but 'rushed it straight back in' and the bell started ringing.

The plane then started to drop quickly.

John said: 'The captain said we were coming into George Best Airport and I thought "That's a bit strange". Then we literally flew above the water, really low.

'We landed very quickly, very safely and then they said: "Cabin crew emergency exits. Evacuate, evacuate".'

He added: 'Myself and another lad who was sitting at the front of the plane jumped down the chutes and stood either side and helped people off.'

He said that people calmly got off the plane.

'I think it didn't hit people until they were stood on the grass away from the plane what had actually happened,' he said.

'I saw people break down.'

John said the staff were very organised and handled the incident well.

'I can't complain at all - we were very well looked after,' he said.

Tim Drelon and Anais Pipart, of Amiens, near Paris, said they could smell burning about 10 minutes into the flight but did not know what had happened.

Tim said: 'I thought we had arrived in Belfast - I didn't know it was the Isle of Man.

'The plane landed on the runway and they said we had to get out very quickly because it was an emergency.

Tim said: 'I was a bit scared. I could smell burning and didn't know whether there was a fire.'