Passengers onboard Aer Lingus flight 343 from Zurich to Dublin were given a fright on Saturday morning after an announcement told them to prepare for an emergency water landing. Thankfully, the cabin crew quickly rectified the error, assuring passengers they would not be ditching into the sea.

Nightmare at 40,000 feet

Speaking to The Irish Times, Fearghal O’Lideacha recounted the “very scary” experience, remembering that the pre-recorded message announced, “ladies and gentlemen, this is an emergency. Please prepare for a ditched landing.”

O’Lideacha said that there had been little reaction to the announcement, though he made eye contact with a woman sitting nearby with children, adding that he could see the distress on her face. However, he took it as a good sign that no flight attendants rushed out to tell passengers what to do.

Eventually, a concerned passenger approached flight attendants, who reassured passengers there was no emergency. The aircraft landed at Dublin Airport on time without any further incident.

Following the flight’s arrival at Dublin, O’Lideacha had a short exchange with a cabin crew member who said she had also been terrified when she heard the announcement.

In a statement, a spokeswoman from the airline confirmed the incident, noting that an incorrect pre-recorded announcement was briefly played.

“A follow up announcement was made advising passengers of the error. At no point during the flight was there any risk to the safety of the aircraft or those on board.”

What would happen in the event of a ditching?

While O’Lideacha luckily understood aviation terminology and quickly deduced it was a mistake, some passengers are not always sure what it means.

Ditching is simply a controlled water landing, where a plane gently touches down on a body of water as opposed to a hard landing. The most notable example is that of US Airways 1549, which ditched into the Hudson River in 2009 after a flock of geese blocked the engines of the Airbus A320 Aircraft. The incident was hailed as the "Miracle of the Hudson" thanks to the quick response by the crew, resulting in no fatalities.

Though the prospect of landing on a large body of water can be terrifying, airline crews are trained for such an incident with rigid procedures in place to ensure passengers' safety. Several Airbus aircraft types even feature a “ditch switch” to make the process easier, giving cockpit crew members additional time to react.

Though passengers need not worry, ditching is uncommon, with only a handful of water landings by commercial airliners ever recorded.

Did Aer Lingus handle the incident well? Have you been on a flight that has made a similar mistake? Let us know in the comments.

Source: The Irish Times