The was diverted shortly after take-off from Manchester Airport
The easyJet flight was diverted(Image: Getty Images)
A passenger has described the ‘dramatic’ scenes onboard an easyJet flight from Manchester Airport as it made an ‘urgent’ diversion.
The easyJet flight took off as normal on Tuesday (July 28) to Copenhagen. But shortly after take-off, the flight had to be diverted to Newcastle.
The diversion was made due to a passenger ‘needing urgent medical attention’, easyJet said. The flight was met by emergency services as it landed at Newcastle.
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A passenger onboard has since described what happened, telling the Liverpool ECHO that the incident was linked to a suspected nut allergy. Another passenger opened a bag of nuts, they said, despite repeated announcements from cabin crew that nuts were not permitted on the flight.
The passenger, who does not wish to be named, said: “We were just about to take off and the cabin crew said someone on the flight had a nut allergy and no one would be allowed to eat nuts on the flight. They said it twice. Before take-off, when we were out on the runway, a woman started opening a packet of nuts and handed them to her kids.
“They started to eat them and the cabin crew once again announced there would be no nuts allowed on the flight. I could smell the nuts as soon as she opened them. Quite a few people reacted and the flight attendant told her she needed to close the bag immediately.”
The passenger said the situation became increasingly concerning once the aircraft was airborne. They said: “We couldn’t do much as we had only just taken off, so we had to remain seated.
The flight from Manchester was diverted to Newcastle(Image: Flightradar)
“The woman, who was sat in front of the woman with the nuts, started to get worse and worse. Luckily there was a doctor on board who could help her. The crew decided they would divert the plane and we did an emergency landing in Newcastle.”
The passenger said the woman appeared to be struggling to breathe and was treated by medical staff when the aircraft landed. They added: “It was very dramatic. When we landed, paramedics came onboard and the woman was taken in an ambulance.
“I don’t think the woman did it out of any harm. She must have just missed the messages. The other passengers weren’t annoyed at the diversion, they were mostly concerned for the woman with the allergy.”
Once the passenger was handed into the care of medics, the flight continued on to Copenhagen. A spokesperson for easyJet said: “Flight EZY2237 from Manchester to Copenhagen yesterday diverted to Newcastle, due to a customer onboard requiring urgent medical attention.
“The customer was met by medical services on arrival and the flight continued to Copenhagen. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority.”