A Carnoustie man has described the moment he thought he and his wife and 270 fellow passengers were going to “end up in the drink” during a holiday flight terror.
Gordon Forbes, of Tommy Armour Place, was on board a Thomas Cook flight from Glasgow to Corfu on Monday that failed to reach its destination.
The former Dundee citizen of the year was looking forward to a break in the sun with his wife, Lyn, when the drama unfolded in the skies over the popular Greek holiday isle.
He said, “It was a pleasant enough flight from Glasgow until we got into the precincts of Corfu when the weather deteriorated.”
He added, “I think he (the pilot) made two attempts which were unsuccessful then announced that we would divert to Brindisi, which is the usual place to go if there is bad weather in the area.
“We were then informed that we couldn’t land at Brindisi because the airport was full.”
He said, “In the end we flew to Athens where the plane was refuelled and the pilot said he would have another go at landing in Corfu.
“This time the pilot made three or four aborted attempts to land the plane and, if anything, conditions were worse. It was very, very rough.
“People in the plane were becoming extremely distressed. The girl next to us was crying and my wife began to have a panic attack. She was attended to by the stewards, who were very nice, but by that time the damage was done.”
After failing to land the pilot took the flight back to Athens, where it landed safely and the passengers were put up in hotels overnight.Chose to end holidayHowever, some like the Forbes chose to end their holidays there and take the next available flight home.
Mr Forbes said, “I had to pay 580 for a flight home, but our minds were made up.
“I think the flight did eventually make it to Corfu the next day, but we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy our stay there.”
Mr Forbes said he would be writing to Thomas Cook to express his concerns over the matter.
He said, “I think that the pilots were over-zealous in their attempts to land at Corfu.
“They probably knew that our safety wasn’t at risk, but we passengers had no control over the situation and it was very frightening.
“I was at a window seat and I really thought we were going to end up in the drink at one point, it seemed that close.”
A spokesperson for the travel firm said yesterday that the Thomas Cook Airlines flight made four unsuccessful attempts to land at Corfu.
They added, “While the Greek islands were having bad weather conditions on Monday, we were able to land safely in Athens to allow the weather to clear.
“We then completed the journey to Corfu the following morning but we’re sorry the couple felt unable to continue their holiday.
“Repeat landing attempts and the re-routing of flights due to poor weather are not uncommon for the Greek islands.”