A teenager claims passengers on a Ryanair jet in Malta suffered panic attacks and passed out after being trapped in extreme heat without air conditioning
Passengers allegedly passed out and vomited after being left trapped on a blistering Ryanair flight with no air conditioning. Traveller Eva Gregory claimed desperate holidaymakers stripped off their shirts and suffered medical emergencies while the plane was delayed on the tarmac in intense heat.
The 16-year-old said she felt nauseous before suffering a panic attack as chaos unfolded around her on the flight from Malta to Birmingham, where she was travelling with her mum, Angela, and brother, Samuel.
Flight FR7268 was scheduled to take off at 5.40am on Monday (August 10), but Eva claimed the aircraft didn’t get airborne until around 7.30am.
She alleged passengers were first forced to wait for around 30 minutes inside a bus with no air-con, before being transferred to a second bus with only limited cooling for another half an hour.
Travellers were then allegedly made to stand on the sun-baked airstrip for a further 20 minutes before finally being allowed to board.
However, Eva claimed conditions inside the cabin were no better, saying there was still no working air conditioning when they stepped onto the plane.
“When we boarded, it was immediately obvious the air conditioning was not on,” said Eva, from Spondon, Derby.
“It was like walking into extreme heat. 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.”
Eva claims she saw two passengers lose consciousness and claimed other travellers were being sick. She 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. They [the staff] didn’t even offer free bottles of water to anyone, even those experiencing medical emergencies.”
Despite the issues, Eva defended the cabin crew, claiming they had tried to stop passengers being allowed aboard until the issue had been addressed.
She said: “The Ryanair cabin crew absolutely did their best. They were telling them not to let us onboard until the air conditioning was fixed.
“The other workers did not listen to the cabin crew and then the crew were the ones dealing with passengers’ anger when it was not their fault.”
The air conditioning allegedly began working gradually after the aircraft became airborne.
Eva said: “The heat and witnessing medical emergencies made me feel uneasy. The whole situation makes me feel extremely angry.
“I want the story to be shared and for Ryanair to fix its mistakes and stop valuing money over the passengers.”
Footage shared online by Eva showed passengers standing in the cabin as crew appeared to attend to people on board.
Text over the video alleged people were “passing out, throwing up, crying and having panic attacks”.
A Ryanair spokesman told the Daily Mail: “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
“Following an inspection of the aircraft by engineers, the aircraft was cleared to operate, and this flight departed Malta at 7pm local.”