I was stuck on TUI’s flight from hell – it ‘BOUNCED’ off the runway after emergency… it never should have taken off
A WOMAN has told how her TUI flight should never have taken off after it BOUNCED off the runway following an emergency. Naomii Thomas, 36, was travelling from Cape Verde to Bristol earlier this month when the TUI Dreamliner flight she was on was diverted. Naomii, from Cardiff, Wales, was on board the already delayed […]
A WOMAN has told how her TUI flight should never have taken off after it BOUNCED off the runway following an emergency.
Naomii Thomas, 36, was travelling from Cape Verde to Bristol earlier this month when the TUI Dreamliner flight she was on was diverted.
Naomii, from Cardiff, Wales, was on board the already delayed flight on June 8 when passengers reported it briefly “bouncing hard off the ground” at Bristol Airport before taking off again.
It is then said to have sent an emergency 7700 code to urgently land elsewhere.
The plane was eventually diverted to Birmingham where passengers had to wait another two hours on the runway – leading to some getting so angry police were called to remove them.
And Naomii believes it should never have taken off – because there was no food onboard and staff were said to be working over time.
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The council worker explained: “When we boarded the plane the pilot spoke to us immediately, and he said because he would try to get us back to Bristol with as little delay as possible the plane hadn’t been stocked with any food.
“He then said the airline staff had volunteered to work over their hours, and that they were very tired. Essentially telling us not to be difficult.
“We were later told by staff on the flight that wasn’t the whole story. Staff told customers that they were asked to fly and that they had all flown over their allocated hours.”
Recalling the brief landing at Bristol, Naomii added: “We hit the floor really harshly, like a crash landing, and then literally about a second later we were straight back up again.
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“I’m quite used to travelling so I know that sometimes you can hit the ground and it can be quite rough, but this was a noticeable bump and I didn’t feel safe when we went back up again.
“You could see everyone was starting to panic then. The guy in front was having a panic attack, the lady behind us was asking her husband whether he thought the plane was safe.”
Within seconds the pilot told passengers he would try to land again, but after three or four minutes of hovering above the airport he then told them they couldn’t land in Bristol due to a fuel issue and they would instead attempt to land in Birmingham, Naomii said.
Passengers had been unaware the pilot had issued the emergency code and even when the plane landed in Birmingham the ordeal was far from over.
COPS CALLED
“We were sat there for two hours,” Naomii explained.
“People started kicking off and the police were called on.
“One family started arguing with another, I don’t know what about exactly – but one of them got escorted off by the police and some of the police stuck around after that.”
She added: “A woman then went into labour and they called paramedics onboard. Unbelievably one of the women escorted off the plane minutes before was actually an A&E nurse.
“Eventually they let us off the plane and we went through to baggage reclaim where we were waiting for another two and a half hours.”
A woman then went into labour and they called paramedics onboard. Unbelievably one of the women escorted off the plane minutes before was actually an A&E nurse.
Naomii Thomas
By the time Naomii reached Bristol to get her car she had been delayed by ten hours, with the travel experience lasting more than 20 hours.
And the council worker said the whole debacle left her “really annoyed”.
Of her dealings with Tui, she added: “We’ve emailed them three times in relation to compensation since landing and each time we’ve had a standard response saying they can’t locate the flight.
“We’ve had no communication as to whether we’re likely to get it or not, but we believe we’re owed more than a grand. I know others who were on the plane who are in the same boat.”
A spokeswoman for the airline said: “We can confirm that TOM245 from Sal, Cape Verde, to Bristol was diverted to Birmingham on June 7 due to weather conditions at Bristol Airport.
“Our crew offered all possible support during the flight before everyone was safely disembarked.
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“We’d like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to customers onboard.
“The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always our highest priority and we’d like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”
