The flight was Bristol-bound when a smell of smoke emerged
16:25, 17 Jun 2025Updated 18:37, 17 Jun 2025
Jamie Shorland, 21, was on a flight from Cyprus to Bristol Airport which made an emergency landing in Turkey.(Image: Jamie Shorland)
A passenger on a Bristol-bound flight that was forced to make an emergency landing after there was a smell of smoke has said that he, and everyone else on that flight, “thought that they were going to die.”
An easyJet flight, travelling from Paphos, Cyprus, to Bristol Airport on Saturday (June 14) made an emergency landing in Izmir, Turkey, an hour and 20 minutes into the scheduled flight.
Jamie Shorland, who had travelled to Cyprus with his friend to see his grandfather, was on the return leg of the journey when smoke alarms went off, however none of the airline staff had told passengers about what was happening.
The 21-year-old from Exeter said the flight, which was delayed by 30 minutes initially, took off at 10.30pm and it was when the plane was west of Turkey that he noticed something was wrong.
Jamie said: “The air cabin crew were told to put away the catering trolleys, whilst we were told no information at all, then we were told to brace for an emergency landing.
“We were above the water so we thought we’d crash into the sea, there was pure panic and none of the crew were helpful.
“I thought to myself ‘this is how it ends’, people were screaming ‘we are going to die!’
“One father rushed up the plane to hug his kids and the airline staff told him to go back to his seat. He told them to ‘f**k off, if I am going to die I am going to be with my kids.'”
When the plane made a 180 turn towards Turkey, the plane was literally flying sideways, within the space of two minutes the plane dropped 15,000ft in the air, according to Jamie.
“I saw cabin crew crying at the back of the plane thinking they were going to die, however the plane flew into Izmir and landed at the airport,” Jamie said.
Jamie added: “It was a traumatic experience, I genuinely thought I was going to die.
“I was trying to think happy thoughts of my family as we fell through the sky.
“It was a load of mayhem, the plane had no lights and it was a scary time.”
Passengers made to wait half an hour as firefighters stormed plane
Jamie said passengers on the flight were not told where they were when they landed, but as the plane made its way down the runway, emergency services followed the aircraft until it stopped, and firefighters stormed onto the plane.
It is understood that passengers were not allowed to exit the plane whilst emergency services were finding the source of the smoke, which Jamie said had filled up the cockpit.
It was 20 minutes after landing, still on the plane, when Jamie and the passengers were told of the fault, suspected to be an issue with the cooling system.
EasyJet provided accommodation for the passengers, split over three hotels, which Jamie said he was told he can stay in until 6pm on Sunday, as the new flight was scheduled for around 10pm.
Despite this, at 12pm, staff told passengers to leave the hotel, according to Jamie, and everyone had to wait at the airport until the flight, which had been delayed again to 11pm.
Jamie said: “I did not want to leave Izmir, I thought ‘I might not make it’.”
Airline criticised over lack of response
EastJet plane.(Image: Jozsef Soos via Getty Images)
Jamie criticised easyJet for their lack of response during and after the incident, saying the airline firm has made it difficult for those affected to speak to them.
Jamie said: “They’ve been no help at all, the pilot [of the initial flight] even made a joke after landing telling everyone to buy a lottery ticket because ‘we got lucky’, I couldn’t believe it.”
The re-scheduled flight from Turkey eventually landed in Bristol Airport at 12.30am on Monday morning with Jamie eventually reaching Exeter just before 3am.
Jamie said: “It was my friend’s first time flying in 12 years.
“We will never get on a plane again, I’ve never been so scared of flying, it was the worst experience of my life.”
A statement from easyJet on Saturday, June 15, said: “We can confirm that flight EZY2902 from Paphos to Bristol diverted to Izmir due to a technical issue which resulted in a smoke smell onboard.
“The aircraft landed safely in Izmir and was met by emergency services as a routine and precautionary measure only.
“All passengers disembarked as normal into the terminal and were provided with hotel accommodation and meals where required.
“Passengers will continue to Bristol on a replacement aircraft later today.
“The safety of our customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all manufacturers’ guidelines.
“We would like to thank customers for their understanding and apologise for the inconvenience caused.”