Air hostess' tears panic passengers as smoke from cockpit fills cabin

PA

An air hostess on a packed holiday plane caused panic when she lost her cool as smoke began pouring into the cabin from the cockpit.

The Malmo Aviation flight from Sitrup, Sweden, bound for Mallorca, suffered a defective TV screen - something that head of Malmo Aviation Johan Westin said would not have caused a serious problem - that had passengers praying for their lives.

According to the Daily Mail, one passenger Mattias Sonngård, said: "All we got to know was that the plane had been given permission for an emergency landing and that we should get into the emergency position with our heads between our knees.

"It was total panic. People sat and screamed out that they didn't want to die. The man in the seat behind me fainted and got help with the oxygen from another passenger. I asked an air hostess if we would crash on water or land. All I could think was that I didn't want to drown – I wanted to die right away.

"When the plane eventually landed safely in Mallorca, flight staff still did not explain to the passengers what had happened, but sat on a bench and cried."

Another passenger added that one air hostess "failed to inspire trust or confidence as she was fighting back tears".

Mr Westin said pilots were correct to focus on landing the plane rather than informing passengers, but officials from Fritidsresor, Sweden's largest tour operator criticised Malmö Aviation's lack of information to passengers.

"We understand that some of the passengers have experienced this as extremely unpleasant.

"Sometimes it happens that people don't receive sufficient information about what has happened. If you're the least bit afraid of flying, it's obviously an extremely unpleasant and distressing situation."

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