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Ryanair jet grounded by jar of mushrooms
Amar Singh, Evening Standard27 Aug 2008
A packed jet was forced to make an emergency landing after a jar of mushrooms leaked onto a passenger from an overhead locker and triggered a severe allergic reaction, it was revealed today.
The bizarre incident was the third time in two days that holiday flights had been diverted.
The Ryanair plane, on its way from Budapest to Dublin, was forced to land in Frankfurt after a man started choking and complained of a swollen neck on Monday night.
Medics took the man to hospital and the flight was grounded when doctors said the oil had contaminated the plane's air conditioning system. The rest of the passengers were transferred to a new plane.
A Ryanair spokesman said: "Somebody put a jar that was open in the overhead compartment and it leaked. We cleaned the aircraft up afterwards and that was it."
He added: "If a passenger gets ill onboard we always divert to the nearest airport. It's taken from health and safety and the cabin crew and pilot take that decision after asking the passenger."
Domokos Szollar, head of Budapest Airport Zrt said: "It is really up to the airlines what they let their passengers carry on their planes.
"Therefore if Ryanair let someone carry goods that are not internationally recognised as 'dangerous', then it is also up to them to make sure they are carried safely."
The incident happened only hours after another Ryanair flight was forced to land in Limoges after a sudden drop in cabin pressure.
Terrified passengers on board the plane from Bristol to Spain feared they were about to die after a sudden drop in cabin pressure meant the pilot had to drop to 8,000ft.
The two emergency Ryanair landings were followed yesterday by a third mid-air drama, when a charter flight was grounded when a microwave caught fire.
The Boeing 737-800 run by Thomsonfly was carrying 189 passengers, including British holidaymakers, and had just taken off from Pula in western Croatia bound for Gatwick.
But it was forced to return after just seven minutes in the air with the pilot carrying out a sharp turning circle as cabin crew battled the flames with fire extinguishers.
Pula airport's director, Bruno Rogovic said Thomsonfly's Flight 2508 was grounded and holidaymakers, none of whom were injured, returned on another flight eight hours later.
A spokesman for Thomsonfly said: "Once the fire was detected, it was immediately contained, with no danger to passengers or crew.
The plane was in the air for a total of seven minutes, and safely returned to the airfield where passengers disembarked normally."
Reader views (1)
Ryanair are an arrogant organisation and a disaster. Everyone should just boycott them. They stole money from me last year through their defective website which lost a booking for which they charged me anyway and refused to refund it. I have not flown with them since and never will again. It is an absolute pleasure to fly on other airlines and to be treated properly. I have no sympathy with anyone who flies with Ryanair.
- Peter Dempsey, London, UK, 27/08/2008 23:41
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