Ryanair passengers screamed for help after being locked in windowless corridor
A Ryanair passenger has recalled the moment she and other commuters were left screaming for help, after being locked in a windowless corridor at an airport.
Twenty-three travellers were shockingly left trapped in a corridor - with no way out - for half an hour at London Stansted Airport on Monday, 2 January, after showing their boarding passes and passports at a gate.
Due to the blunder, they ended up missing their flight to Zagreb, Croatia, as it took off without them while they were left crammed in a corridor - where the doors at both ends were locked.
Stuck there, the panicked passengers resorted to banging on the walls and screaming for help, in hopes that someone would hear, report MyLondon.
Twenty-three passengers missed their flight from London Stansted, including a woman who was meant to have a job interview (NurPhoto via Getty Images)And after half an hour, they made the decision to pull the fire alarm, and were luckily rescued.
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However, the flight had already departed without them - with their bags on board - while Ryanair have put the issue down to a human error by handling staff.
Recalling the horror moment, Devina Raval, 33, said that the first part of checking into the flight went smoothly, as she and the other 22 passengers joined a queue at a corridor.
Speaking about the incident, she said: "Everything was going fine, I was at the gate with plenty of time to spare and I joined the back of the queue. We showed our passes and passport then we were led down an escalator where I joined a queue in an L-shaped corridor.
"This was about half an hour before our flight was due to take off so we waited for 10-15 minutes before we started looking at each other thinking something was wrong."
Despite checking in, the travellers were left stranded in a corridor (NurPhoto via Getty Images)She continued: "The door at the front of the corridor was shut, we had been waiting for them to open expecting that we'd then be taken to the plane from there.
"With people starting to panic we decided to go back to the door we came through to ask the staff what the hold up was, but we found that that door was also locked."
At this point real panic started to set in the group as they found that the door had been locked.
Devina said: "People were banging on the walls calling for help, it felt like we were being held hostage or something. There were kids 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 half an hour she said that someone made the decision to activate the fire alarm. At this point, Devina said a member of staff arrived and asked them what they were doing stuck in the corridor.
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The 33-year-old said: "At that point I was just shocked that they hadn't realised we were there. We were told the plane had left without us. From there we were sent traipsing around the airport for three hours as we found out that all of our luggage had been sent to Zagreb without us.
"The worst part was that we didn't get so much as a sorry, everyone was absolutely furious."
Ryanair have put down the incident to a human error by handling staff (NurPhoto via Getty Images)The passengers were put in a nearby hotel overnight and put on the next flight which was at 6am on Tuesday, 3 January.
Devina explained: "We were given a hotel, a £20 food voucher and put on the next flight but it all adds up. The people who are picking me up from Zagreb on the other side have had to take extra days off work, other people who were stuck in the corridor have missed connecting flights.
"The whole thing has been so stressful."
She also added that one woman stuck in the corridor missed a job interview, while another family were split in half - with half of them on the plane and the other half stuck in the corridor.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: "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 (Jan 2). The error was soon realised however the flight had already departed.
"Ryanair provided affected passengers with overnight accommodation and moved them onto the next available flight.”
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