CITY of Derry airport have launched an internal inquiry after a Ryanair flight from Derry to Alicante was forced to make a mid-air U-turn after ground staff ‘forgot’ to unload the previous passengers’ luggage.
The captain told 170 passengers that they were returning to Derry 20 minutes into the flight because they had forgotten a bag.
But the real reason was luggage from the previous flight hadn’t been taken off the plane – leaving passengers from that flight irate.
One passenger on board, Maoliosa Boyle, was clearly shocked at the incident, writing on Facebook: ‘Only in Derry, Took off from Eglinton airport for Spain and 20 minutes into the flight… “we apologise as we have to turn back, we forgot a bag”. Seriously! U-turn back’.
The Boeing 737 made a safe landing back at Derry Airport.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “This flight from Derry to Alicante (27 July) returned to Derry shortly after take-off to unload baggage from the previous flight, which the third party ground handling agent had failed to remove before take-off.
“The aircraft landed normally, the baggage was removed and the flight departed to Alicante. Ryanair apologised to customers affected by this short delay.”
Management at Derry Airport said that they are ‘sorry for the inconvenience caused’ and that they are ‘reviewing circumstances of the incident.’
The flight, that had departed at 5.55pm, eventually set out for the popular holiday destination of Alicante at 7pm.
It’s understood ground staff have been quizzed about the fiasco.
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