Holiday flight to Tenerife returns to Gatwick after 'windscreen smashed midair'

A Thomson flight from Bristol to Tenerife was forced to turn around over Portugal and return to Gatwick - after the windscreen reportedly smashed midair.

Flight 6278 performed a U-turn just outside the Portuguese city of Porto, more than halfway through the four-hour flight.

See also: Plane makes emergency landing at Birmingham Airport after windscreen cracks

See also: Bird smashes through plane's windscreen and hits pilot in face

The Daily Mail reports that the daughter of a couple who were on the plane wrote on Twitter: "Parents were suppose to be flying to Tenerife for a cruise, turns out their plane windscreen smashed mid flight."

The Express reports that passengers were left terrified after the ordeal, fearing an attack.

One passenger said: "My MIL plane just turned back half way into flight to Tenerife , now at gatwick where people so freaked out won't fly.

"They've not really explained why plane diverted & edgy with current world situation."

A spokeswoman for Thomson Airlines told the Express and the Daily Mail: "We would like to apologise for the inconvenience to customers on board flight TOM6278 from Bristol to Tenerife, which has diverted to London Gatwick airport as a precautionary measure due to a technical issue.

"We hope to have these customers on their holiday as soon as possible and we'd like to take this opportunity to reassure everyone that the safety of our customers and crew is of paramount importance."

The news comes just weeks after holidaymakers told of their fears due to the recent Thomson data breach.

Back on 15 August, the travel plans, home addresses and flight dates of 458 customers were accidentally emailed to 500 people across the country.

At least one couple, Mandy and Pete Garland, from Weston-super-Mare, cancelled their Caribbean getaway.

Mandy said: "Anybody with a little bit of brains would be able to look at the list and go 'there's a pretty good chance that house is going to be empty for at least a week'.

"So my biggest concern was the security of the house."