Passengers on a Ryanair flight from Malta to Birmingham were left vomiting and passing out after being trapped on a sweltering plane for nearly two hours during a delay. The incident occurred on Monday, August 10, when flight 7268 was scheduled to depart at 5.40pm but was pushed back to 7.30pm due to a technical issue and a subsequent passenger illness.
Passengers left without air conditioning
According to 16-year-old Eva Gregory, who was travelling with her mother Angela and brother Samuel, the ordeal began even before boarding. Passengers were first crammed onto an apron bus without air conditioning for 30 minutes before being transferred to another vehicle to reach the aircraft parked on a remote stand.
Once onboard, there was no respite from the searing 31C heat. Eva told Metro: 'We got on the plane but were sitting and waiting in the heat with no air conditioning at all for over an hour. All the passengers were extremely agitated and quite quickly became frustrated. People were taking their tops off because of the heat.'
Passengers pass out and vomit
As the heat intensified, some passengers reportedly passed out, and others vomited. Eva added: 'Two people passed out, although I’m not sure how many were throwing up. I was experiencing the feeling of needing to throw up, but as I have a phobia of being sick, it gave me a panic attack. The elderly people seemed extremely distressed and could potentially have experienced worse medical problems.'
Cabin crew did not offer free water to passengers, and attempts to prevent more passengers from boarding while the air conditioning was broken were reportedly ignored. Eva said flight attendants had tried to tell ground personnel not to continue boarding, but their requests went unheeded.
Ryanair responds
Ryanair acknowledged the delay was initially caused by a technical problem with the aircraft, which was then compounded after a passenger became ill onboard. The airline said passengers were held on an air conditioned bus for 10 minutes and that cabin crew had opened the onboard bars for passengers to purchase drinks on the ground.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: 'This flight from Malta to Birmingham (10 Aug) was delayed prior to departure due to a minor technical issue with the aircraft and subsequently became delayed after a passenger became ill onboard. Following an inspection of the aircraft by engineers, the aircraft was cleared to operate, and this flight departed Malta at 19:00pm local.'
The flight eventually departed Malta at 7pm local time, more than an hour after the original scheduled departure. The incident highlights the challenges passengers can face during delays in extreme heat, particularly when air conditioning systems fail.
