By Bryan Kay

PLANE MANUFACTURER Boeing has flatly denied passengers claims that they were placed in danger when a refuelling plane was hit by an overflow glitch.

Dundee man William Queen and his family were on the Aberdeen-bound flight at Alicante Airport, Spain, when the incident occurred.

Forty-three of the 140 on board the Boeing 737, some of whom were screaming in terror, refused to fly.

Both FlyGlobespan and Boeing have insisted the jet was “100% safe” and that such spillages are not considered a safety breach.

Mr Queen, of Kemnay Place, claimed fuel was surging from the wing as firefighters raced to the scene to hose the affected area with foam.

The passengers were taken back to the terminal while the situation was investigated. But Mr Queen said he was aghast to be told it was later declared safe to fly and was one of those who elected not to reboard the flight.

The incident happened on Monday night as the plane was being refuelled for the flight to Aberdeen.

Mr Queen was travelling with wife Pauline, daughter Debbie and her children Dylan (11) and Kai (3). They returned on a flight to Edinburgh on Tuesday.

“We should never have been on the plane in the first place,” he said.

“I spoke to a steward who said it had to stop at Stansted to refuel on the way over and the same thing happened there.”

But another passenger claimed those in hysterics were guilty of an over-reaction. He said the incident was perfectly explained by the pilot and he was happy to fly after the overflow problem was cleared.

A Boeing statement said that while the leakage was “not desirable” it was “not a safety of flight concern.”

A FlyGlobespan spokesman said, “The captain made it clear that the fuel overflow was a not infrequent aspect of airplane refuelling and that he would never fly a plane unless he was 100% sure of its safety.

“Unfortunately, that failed to reassure a number of passengers and we had to acknowledge their wishes not to fly and return to the terminal.

“We apologise for the disruption that delay caused to the vast majority of passengers on the plane who were happy to travel.

“We would like to compliment the captain and crew for their handling of the situation and would point out that, on landing, the passenger cabin broke into a spontaneous round of applause to show their appreciation.”

The plane eventually took off early on Tuesday morning and arrived in Aberdeen at 3.50am.