ALICANTE FLIGHT DRAMA

EMERGENCY chutes were put into motion for 139 panic-stricken passengers on a Jet2 flight from Alicante to Blackpool in a dramatic evacuation.

“It was quite scary. The chutes came down but one of them would not open. In places there was nobody catching people at the bottom – people just slid off," said a shocked passenger. The drama occurred after Blackpool Airport air traffic control spotted smoke coming from the brakes upon landing.

The drama saw three fire crews from Lancashire Fire and Rescue service race to the incident after smoke emitted after landing on Friday June 6 on the LS740 flight from Alicante. The alarm was raised after smoke was seen coming from the plane’s brakes – caused by a suspected hydraulic fluid leak.

The passengers initially remained on board the plane – in the wake of a dramatic landing – before being instructed to make an emergency exit down the chutes. Passengers exited down the chutes – some sustaining cuts – as they slid on to runway. The incident lead to the runway being closed for three hours. “Passengers had scratches on their arms and legs – banged heads – but it could have been a lot worse,” said another passenger.

After a fast, bumpy landing smoke was seen coming off a tyre that lead to evacuating the passengers – leading to panic. “It was a hydraulic fluid leak in the under carriage – when the aircraft landed it smoked," said Sue Kendrick, corporate affairs manager at Blackpool Airport. “It carried on smoking – to be on the safe side we evacuated," she said.

“Emergency orders worked absolutely perfectly. It’s good to see in an emergency situation they all worked well," she said. “The captain was advised to evacuate flight LS740 from Alicante as a precautionary measure," said a Jet2 spokesperson. "Blackpool Airport air traffic control spotted smoke coming from the brakes on landing. All passengers evacuated safely. A full investigation is now underway,” said the Jet2 spokesperson.

And passenger Roasaleen Johnson, of Princeway, South Shore, Blackpool, described the drama: “The plane went down quite sharply. "It was quite a fast landing – a bit of excitement nobody was expecting. But she criticised the evacuation being told to initially to remain seated – prior to exiting down the chutes: “I think they kept us on the plane a bit too long. "They could have got us off sooner" she said.

Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/43892/

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