This footage shows chaotic scenes as an evacuation chute is left unusable after being caught in strong winds when a plane with Spanish low-cost airline Vueling plane made an emergency landing due to smoke in the cabin.
Passenger Javier Calderon on flight VY2118 that made an emergency landing at Barcelona’s El Prat airport told local media that the crew appeared to be acting without any protocols. He said however that there were two workers from another airline, Ryanair, who were travelling on the flight as passengers, and they reportedly provided help to the Vueling team.
Video credit: CEN/@turama_es
According to Calderon, the front slide as can be seen in the footage was caught in the wind and could not be used until other passengers had disembarked at the rear and could then move to the front of the plane to hold down the other slide.
The incident took place on an aircraft from the Spanish low-cost airline Vueling that was flying from Malaga to Barcelona when it had to make an emergency landing at El Prat Airport located 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) from Barcelona’s centre, with video showing the evacuation of the aircraft.
Video credit: CEN
According to local media, smoke was present in the cabin and the plane was promptly evacuated after making the emergency landing, with the problem with the front slide meaning passengers all had to disembark at the rear of the aircraft.
Vueling staff were quoted in local media as saying that flight VY2118 landed “without problem” and that the evacuation slides were activated for the passengers to disembark.
Following “safety procedures”, the Vueling pilots asked to land at El Prat Airport as a matter of “priority” after the fault was detected.
Calderon told local media that smoke was noticed in the cabin around 20 minutes before they made the emergency landing.
Cabin crew asked the passengers to “cover their nostrils with their hands and to keep their heads lowered as much as possible”, according to Calderon.
According to local media, by the time the plane landed, the cabin had a high concentration of smoke and several passengers were experiencing panic attacks.
Passengers also complained that they were told nothing about where the smoke came from or how to descend the evacuation slide with youngsters.
Vueling and the local authorities are currently investigating the incident. It is currently unclear what caused the smoke.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Angjela Trajkovska, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
The Ananova page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
