A Ryanair plane that took flight during Storm Isha quickly descended into 36 hours of chaos with passengers passing out, widespread vomiting and travellers being deprived of water and food.
One passenger, a child who lost consciousness during the ordeal, was not allowed to leave the plane, with her parents later professing that they would “never fly with Ryanair again”.
The flight from Paris-Beauvis to Dublin on Sunday was marred with problems from the offset, as boarding was delayed by two hours.
However, the late boarding time would be the least of the passengers’ problems, as after take-off, the flight suffered a heavy bout of turbulence, with the pilot describing it as “the worst [he’s] ever seen”.
Passengers on a Ryanair flight from Paris to Dublin experienced a gruelling ordeal after being battered by Storm Isha
Charlotte Moloney
The Ryanair plane was then rerouted to Belfast before being redirected again to Glasgow due to the horrific weather conditions as a result of Storm Isha.
Passenger Charlotte Moloney, 23, a model, told GB News of the horrific scenes as passengers vomited and panicked whilst the turbulence rocked the plane “from side to side”.
“I wasn’t scared initially but soon the pilot veered the plane straight back up suddenly, and you could hear the engines so loudly."
As the turbulence got worse, the plane "started rocking from side to side. People all around were vomiting and crying.”
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Passengers waited on board the tarmac for several hours at Glasgow
Charlotte Moloney
After approximately an hour of the storm battering the plane, the aircraft was initially rerouted to Belfast. However, conditions were still seen as too poor to land, so it was instead redirected to Glasgow.
The aircraft finally landed at Prestwick Airport in Glasgow, at around 7.00pm, where it remained on the tarmac for four hours.
A woman in her 20s who suffered a panic attack and then passed out was immediately taken off the plane and seen to by medical assistance.
However, another passenger who also lost consciousness, a young girl around the age of seven, was not so lucky.
Moloney said the young girl was “so pale and looked like she was fading”, however, she was not taken off the plane for medical assistance. Her parents ended up carrying her to the front of the plane to get the attention of the crew.
The 23-year-old also told GB News that there was a lack of water and food on board. Numerous passengers felt unwell due to the heavy turbulence, however, getting water to them was described as a “hassle” and people were told they would need to pay for a bag of crisps.
The turbulence caused multiple passengers to throw up
Charlotte Moloney
As the passengers waited onboard the aircraft for Ryanair to decide what to do, intercom announcements sporadically came through whilst ferocious winds continued to rock the plane.
Moloney said the pilot and crew also seemed confused by the situation. She said: “The pilot seemed to be clutching at straws and was feeling stressed himself. You could tell from his voice that he was very nervous.”
As it approached midnight, the pilot decided to not fly back to Dublin, as the conditions were too dangerous. When later asked by Moloney why he made the decision to remain in Glasgow for the night, he stated: “I wouldn’t have a job tomorrow”.
Passengers were told they would need to find their own accommodation in Glasgow, before Ryanair would attempt to fly again tomorrow.
Moloney, who was travelling back from Paris Fashion Week with her friend Lauren, was lucky enough to find accommodation at a Premier Inn.
However, others were not so lucky. She said that she was later told by a French couple on her flight that around 100 people could not find accommodation and had to spend the night on the airport floor. She was told that no free food was provided.
Charlotte Moloney told GB News about the horrific experience onboard the plane as she tried to get home from Paris Fashion week
Charlotte Moloney
The chaos continued into the next day, as passengers reappeared at the airport hoping to board their flight, despite no communication from the airline as to when it had been rescheduled.
Moloney arrived the next day at around 11.00am, as passengers waited aimlessly for an update as to when they would be able to reach their original destination. An email was sent around midday telling people that their flight was delayed until 3.30pm, despite no initial departure time being given.
This was later pushed back to 8.00pm, and frustrated passengers were dismayed to discover they had only been given a £6 voucher from the airline to spend on food whilst they waited. Two additional vouchers were later sent to each passenger, bringing up the grand total to £18.
Whilst waiting for the plane, Moloney spoke to the parents of the child who was not removed from the plane. They told her: “One thing is for certain, we will never ever fly with Ryanair again. We are disgusted and distraught by what has happened.”
The plane eventually landed in Dublin at around 11.00pm, more than 30 hours after it was originally meant to land.
Ryanair reportedly sent out an email to customers who had been affected by travel chaos due to Storm Isha, where they asked for feedback.
It is understood that no email has yet been sent to passengers on Sunday’s flight from Paris to Dublin regarding compensation for their ordeal.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: "Due to Storm Isha, some flights to/from the UK and Ireland on Sun, 21 Jan/Mon, 22 Jan were disrupted, including this flight from Paris to Dublin (21 Jan), which was forced to divert to Glasgow.
"Passenger remained onboard (for less than 3hrs) while we tried to position the aircraft back to Dublin, however, as weather conditions did not improve and crew reached their permitted hours, this flight was delayed overnight.
"Despite Ryanair’s efforts to arrange accommodation for passengers, availability was limited, and passengers were advised that they could also arrange individual accommodation/transport and that they could claim back expenses on Ryanair.com.
"This flight departed from Glasgow to Dublin the following day (22 Jan) with over 170 passengers onboard.
"Ryanair sincerely apologises to all passengers affected by these storm-related disruptions, which were entirely beyond our control and impacted all airlines operating to/from the UK and Ireland on Sun, 21 Jan/Mon, 22 Jan."
