Three easyjet passengers were left stranded on the tarmac in wheelchairs as their plane took off without them with their luggage on board.
Liz Weir was among those left stranded at Belfast International airport after the flight fiasco.
She said she was sitting on the tarmac waiting to be boarded after other passengers, when the doors were closed and the plane left for Edinburgh.
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Author Liz, from Co Antrim, Northern Ireland, was meant to be flying to the Scottish capital for a storytelling session at an arts festival.
She told the Mirror : “I’d got to the airport in plenty of time and was sitting in the airport wheelchair on the tarmac waiting to board the plane. My luggage had been checked in and I was looking forward to my show tonight in Midlothian.
“The other passengers were boarded before myself and another passenger who was also using wheelchair assistance. I assumed we’d be next to board but then the door of the plane closed and we were left outside.
“The airport ground staff were standing with us and no one could understand what was going on.
“We could see the pilot and I waved at him, trying to say, ‘what about us, you’ve forgotten about us’. And he taxied the plane and took off.”
A spokesman for easyJet said: “We are very sorry that flight EZY55 from Belfast to Edinburgh departed without three passengers who were being accompanied by the airport’s special assistance provider.
“We have urgently raised with the provider to understand why this happened.
“We are doing everything possible to assist the passengers, arranging for flights to Glasgow and Edinburgh to get them to their destination as quickly as possible, and our team looked after them throughout and provided them with refreshment vouchers while they waited for their new flight.
“We will also be processing the compensation they are due.”
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