Tullamore man’s terrifying storm flight

A Tullamore man has recalled a terrifying experience during Storm Isha which saw his Copenhagen to Dublin flight attempt to land three times before touching down in Liverpool, nearly twelve hours later.

During the nightmare experience, Cormac revealed that he and fellow passengers were unsure what would happen the plane as it attempted to land.

“Everybody was kind of looking at each other just not knowing if this plane was going to crash,” he told the Offaly Independent.

Explaining the ordeal which began as he boarded a Ryanair flight in Copenhagen, he told BBC NEWS: “The flight from Copenhagen to Dublin was relatively smooth and the minute we got towards Ireland it started to go downhill from there.

"We tried our first attempt to land in Dublin and as we came down the plane went back up into the sky. The captain then told us that we were going to go for a go-around and try again.”

The Tullamore man lives in Kalundborg, Denmark, about 110km from Copenhagen and works as an electrical apprentice there on a rotational basis for three weeks of the month and has a week off then in Ireland.

The pilot attempted to land the plane again in Dublin on Sunday but couldn't as the winds were too strong, he said.

He said it was “very rough” and after ten or 15 minutes the passengers were informed that they were being diverted to Manchester.

"We landed in Manchester relatively smoothly. It was fine but we were held on the plane then for five to six hours, we weren't allowed off the plane.”

A couple of passengers later disembarked and stayed in Manchester for the night. Cormac said those who remained on the plane were told that they'd be returning to Dublin and he opted to stay on the plane because he wanted to get home.

“We were told that the weather had subsided in Dublin and that it would be possible to land,” said Cormac.

Following this, the plane flew towards Dublin but then had to be diverted to Belfast. “The captain said that we couldn't even land in Dublin. The winds were way too strong. It was 60/70 miles an hour,” he said.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent, Cormac said that the worst part of the experience was Belfast. “If I'm being honest it was really scary. People were getting sick, young kids were kind of crying a bit. Everybody was kind of looking at each other just not knowing if this plane was going to crash.” There were a number of families on the flight and Cormac said he could hear two or three babies crying on the plane.

“It was very scary. The tension in the air was so thick. Everyone was looking at each other, the lights were off. No one knew what was going to happen as we tried to land,” stated Cormac.

The plane was just 1500 feet above the ground at this point but again couldn't land as it was so dangerous. It flew for another 30 minutes towards Newcastle before the plane diverted towards Liverpool.

“I didn't eat or drink for twelve hours, " said Cormac. "Some of the elderly people and some of the families with young kids were looked after with water and food but they were still charged.” Cormac said that he was young and able to go without food or drink but that he thought it was “shocking” that others were charged.

Cormac boarded the plane at 10am Danish time on Sunday which was 9am Irish time and the plane didn't land until 11.30pm in Liverpool that night.

The Tullamore native charged his phone which had died during the flight and rang his parents who booked a hotel for him in Liverpool and he had to rebook his flight to Dublin. He stayed in a hotel for two nights before flying to Dublin on Tuesday afternoon.

He said that the passengers were promised accommodation on the flight by Ryanair but once they got off the plane in Liverpool, they found a lot of other planes had also been redirected there.

“It was just carnage. There was nobody there to help us. We didn't know what to do. Everyone on the flight were asking each other what do we do next.”

To date, Cormac said that he hasn't received any communication from Ryanair but is going to see if he can get some money back following the ordeal and is considering making a complaint to the airline.