‘Nightmare’ TUI flight ‘bounced off runway’ before woman on plane went into labour

Naomii Thomas was on board the disastrous flight from Cape Verde, already hours late when it finally took off for Bristol – but the wheels barely touched the runway before taking off again

A TUI passenger has shared her “nightmare” experience on board a plane that “bounced hard off the ground” as it attempted to land at Bristol Airport before taking off again.

The flight was already hours late and the chaos didn’t end with the aborted landing – when it finally arrived at Birmingham Airport, frustrated passengers began fighting, police were called on board and a woman went into labour.

Naomii Thomas says the problems started before the plane even took off from Cape Verde.

“Initially, the return flight to Bristol was delayed by two hours and 45 minutes,” said the 36-year-old Wales Online from her home in Caerau, where she eventually returned with her partner some 10 hours over schedule.

“We asked if we could stay at the hotel because it would avoid a six-hour wait at Cape Verde airport, but they said no and gave us a five-euro voucher instead.

“The airport was manic about delays. It’s a small airport and since we all got there earlier than we really needed with these vouchers, the queues were huge. It was an absolute nightmare.”

TUI has apologized for the “inconvenience caused to customers on board” and stated that “the safety and well-being of passengers and crew is always our top priority”.

Naomii said: “I’ve flown a lot and I’ve always been told it takes an hour and a half to do standard security checks.

“When we got on the plane the pilot spoke to us straight away and said that because he was trying to get us back to Bristol as soon as possible, the plane wasn’t loaded with food.

“Then he said the airline staff had volunteered to work beyond their hours and that they were very tired. Essentially, you are telling us not to be difficult.

“We were later told by staff on the flight that that wasn’t the whole story. Staff informed customers that they had been asked to fly and that they had exceeded all of their allotted hours.”

Naomii said she believes the pilot was in such a rush to get off the ground to avoid a three-hour delay, meaning passengers could potentially seek compensation.

“I had already concluded from the way the plane had stormed off the ground that they were trying to get us home as soon as possible so they didn’t have to pay compensation,” she said.

“We met a lot of people out there who had actually returned from vacation because of delays.

“A family of five from Barry had paid £1,900 for the holiday and received £2,500 on the way there and then back.

“The pilot told us he was going to take a shortcut. When we touched the ground in Bristol we were at two hours and 55 minutes.”

Passengers reported that the plane hit the runway hard before climbing back up into the air.

They said it couldn’t have been on the ground more than a second or two.

Naomii recalled the pilot telling them that because they took a shortcut, not enough fuel had been used and the plane was too heavy to land.

But TUI says the decision not to land was made due to poor weather conditions.

“From my understanding, the runway was not long enough to stop in time because the plane was too heavy,” Naomii explained.

“We hit the ground really hard, like we crashed, and then we were straight again literally about a second later.

Within seconds, the pilot informed the passengers that he would attempt to land again.

But after hovering over the airport for three or four minutes, he told them they couldn’t land in Bristol because of a fuel problem and would try to land in Birmingham instead.

The passengers had not known that the pilot had issued the emergency code.

Naomii said, “Everyone kind of just looked at each other wide-eyed, some obviously panicking that something was wrong, others laughing nervously in a kind of confused way.”

“By the time the plane landed in Birmingham, the ordeal for the poor passengers was not over – for some, concern and anger turned to comic desperation.

“We sat there for two hours.

“People started kicking and the police were called.

“One family started arguing with another, I don’t know exactly what – but one of them was escorted by the police and some of the police stayed there afterwards.

“One woman then went into labor and called the paramedics on board. Incredibly, one of the women escorted off the plane minutes earlier was actually an emergency room nurse.

“Eventually they let us off the plane and we went to baggage claim where we waited another two and a half hours.

“We had to wait for three flights to unload before our turn and we were constantly being put at the end of the queue.”

When they reached Bristol to collect their car, they were ten hours late and the whole ordeal lasted more than 20 hours.

Naomii said the whole debacle made her “really upset”.

“I wouldn’t say I was put off by flying, but I have reservations about flying with TUI.”

A spokeswoman for TUI said: “We can confirm that TOM245 from Sal, Cape Verde to Bristol was diverted to Birmingham on 7 June due to weather conditions at Bristol Airport.

“Our crew provided every support during the flight before everyone disembarked safely. We would like to apologize for the inconvenience caused to customers on board.

“The safety and welfare of passengers and crew is always our top priority and we would like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”