Holidaymakers were left frightened after a Ryanair flight crashed into a barrier shortly after landing. The Boeing 737 had landed at Kalamata International Airport from London Stansted to Kalamata International Airport when the incident happened.
Passengers on the flight FR6080 had reportedly endured ‘severe turbulence’ during the three-and-a-half-hour flight.
The Boeing Max plane had left the UK airport at about 7.30am yesterday, and it headed to the holiday hotspots on the Peloponnese peninsula. Just before landing, the pilot warned of a rough landing ahead, a source told the Sun.
After touching down on the runway, something went wrong. The source told the outlet: ‘The crew said it was going to be a bumpy landing. “But while it was taxi-ing down the runway towards the red and white barrier at the end, the plane turned and everyone heard this loud banging sound.’
Passengers and crew could ‘feel the impact,’ they said. Furious passengers took aim at the airline after the nightmare landing and after allegedly being told to stay put after the smash.
The source said: ‘There was an announcement that everyone had to wait on the plane for the fire brigade. “With the wing damaged the way it was, why wouldn’t you evacuate the plane first?’ ‘Everyone was scared – it was the fact they said wait on the plane even though there was clearly a risk of fire.’
A Ryanair spokesperson told Metro: ‘This flight from London Stansted to Kalamata (18 June) was taxiing to stand when the wing tip came in contact with a fence at Kalamata Airport.
‘The aircraft subsequently continued to stand, and passengers disembarked normally. The aircraft then underwent the required inspections and maintenance prior to its return to service.’
The aviation industry is reeling from the Air India disaster, which killed 270 people, most of them passengers, while people also died on the ground when the Boeing 787 crashed in Ahmedabad.
One of India’s worst aviation disasters wiped out entire families, many whom are still waiting for their loved ones to be identified.