Passengers tend to miss their flights for numerous trivial reasons, such as forgetting time zones, being carried away with duty-free shopping, or being delayed by an earlier connecting flight. But for 23 Ryanair passengers on January 2nd, they missed their highly anticipated flight after being trapped in a locked corridor within the airport for half an hour.

Unknowingly led down to a trap

Slightly over half an hour before their Zagreb-bound Ryanair flight was scheduled to take-off from London Stansted Airport, the 23 passengers were already at the gate-hold room and were queueing up for boarding. After showing their boarding passes and passports, the gate staff led them down an escalator, and they found themselves in an L-shaped corridor.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for these passengers, as they expected to be led to the aircraft soon since the countdown to departure was within half an hour. But after waiting for about 10 to 15 minutes, the passengers realized something was wrong, as no other passengers were joining them within this corridor, and there was no airline or airport staff in sight.

While trying to make sense of what was happening, the passengers tried opening the door at the front of the windowless corridor, but it was locked shut. Having initially thought they would be taken to their aircraft through this door, the realization that it was locked sent several of them into a panic. They then tried the back door where they came through, only to find out it was also locked, and it finally sunk in that they were trapped.

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Desperate to find a way out

Without windows, airline staff, an aircraft in sight, and no way out, the 23 passengers started shouting for help. One of the passengers, Devina Raval, recalled the situation to My London News, saying:

"People were banging on the walls calling for help, it felt like we were being held hostage or something. Kids were crying, and the whole place became really claustrophobic. I dread to think what would have happened if someone had a heart attack or something."

After about half an hour of shouting and banging, someone within the passenger group decided to make a risky move and pulled the fire alarm. This turned out to be the right move as an airport staff member arrived and asked them what and how they got to be stuck in the corridor.

Upon explaining their situation, the passengers were shocked to learn that not only did no airline or airport staff realize they had been trapped in the corridor, but their Zagreb-bound flight had already departed from London Stansted Airport. With their flight and luggage already en route to Zagreb, the 23 passengers were essentially abandoned in London.

Something that should never have happened

So, how did such a terrifying incident happen whereby 23 passengers ended up trapped in a locked corridor, and how could the Ryanair flight take off without them? Without the 23 passengers onboard the narrowbody aircraft, the flight's load sheet and trim settings would have been massively inaccurate. And surely, someone would have noticed that many missing passengers.

Without giving much of a clear explanation, the low-cost carrier simply stated that human error was the primary blame in this situation, as it explained:

"Due to a human error by handling staff at London Stansted Airport, a small number of passengers could not exit the pre-boarding area doors and regrettably missed their flight to Zagreb. The error was soon realized, however, the flight had already departed."

The airline also highlighted providing the passengers with overnight accommodation and booking them onto the next available flight, which was at 06:00 the following day. However, the 23 passengers claimed that even with the after-service provided by Ryanair, the stressful situation still should never have happened, and the lack of apology from any party was equally frustrating.

Not only was the situation traumatizing for these passengers, but missing their flight had some unfortunate consequences, including one passenger missing a job interview and others missing their connecting flights. Some passengers had to miss work and take an extra day of leave. At the same time, another family was split in half, with some on the aircraft and the others stuck in the corridor.

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Bottom line

At this time of writing, London Stansted Airport has yet to respond with a comment, and with Ryanair shedding little light on its part, the whole situation still seems bizarre to have even happened. Still, it was fortunate that no medical emergency occurred during the half an hour when the passengers were trapped in the corridor. Hopefully, communication between all staff will improve to prevent such incidents from happening again.

Source: My London News

• 

  Ryanair

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  FR/RYR

  Airline Type:

  Low-Cost Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Dublin Airport, London Stansted Airport, Milan Bergamo Airport

  Year Founded:

  1985

  Airline Group:

  Ryanair Group

  CEO:

  Eddie Wilson

  Country:

  Ireland

• 

  London Stansted Airport

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  STN/EGSS

  Country:

  United Kingdom

  CEO:

  Ken O'Toole

  Passenger Count :

  7,146,000 (2021)

  Runways :

  04/22 - 3,049m (10,003ft)