05 January 2024 , 16:30
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A passenger on board a P&O chartered flight to Manchester that hit 'freak turbulence' said he "thought I was going to die".
The Maleth Aero flight from Barbados on December 23 flew into a lightning storm before briefly plummeting from the sky - though allegedly the seatbelt sign was left off and there was no pre-warning. Disabled holidaymaker Phillip Crossdale smashed his head into the cabin ceiling twice as the plane jumped around - and claimed another woman fractured three bones in her neck during the chaos.
A man also broke his ribs and wrist and a second woman broke her arm, he claimed. Phillip, from Halifax, West Yorkshire, suffered severe whiplash and says he's been suffering from flashbacks since the incident, and is struggling to sleep. 11 people were taken to hospital after the plane diverted to Bermuda for three days over Christmas - though Phillip, 40, claimed more were injured, including cabin crew, who were serving food at the time.
"The seatbelt signs weren't on and so people were getting up and going to the toilet or checking hand luggage, and next thing we hit severe turbulence," he told the Mirror. "It was very very shaky, then next breath we just plummeted. Everybody that wasn’t fastened in literally went and hit the ceiling. Whether it be once or twice."
The plane was struck by 'freak turbulence' on a flight back to Manchester (Phillip Crossdale)He went on to describe it as "like slow motion". "I remember it was like I was in a Matrix film. Like Neo rising up and then the next thing it’s all come crashing down. I thought I was going to die, the plane was going to crash. Everybody was screaming. There was stuff flying around everywhere, there were masks coming down from the ceiling. You see those masks and you’re automatically 'oh my God, this is the end'."
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Phillip - who has a functional neurological disorder and relies on a wheelchair or zimmer frame - said he believed the crew "didn't get any prior warning" because they had just started serving the food. "If they had had some indication from pilot that something was going to happen they wouldn’t have been serving food," he said.
He claims after doing some research later, passengers found the plane had flown "through a massive storm" while other flights had flown around it. "Whether there’s a reason for that, we don’t know. The crew kept saying 'the pilot wouldn’t put himself in danger, let alone anyone else'. [But] a lot of people could have been killed, depending on how they’ve hit their head or how they’ve landed."
Phillip Crossdale suffered severe whiplash after striking the ceiling (Phillip Crossdale)
The plane flew threw a lightning storm (Phillip Crossdale)Phillip had been on a P&O cruise for a week to celebrate his 40th birthday, with the holiday firm chartering a Maleth flight from Barbados to Manchester. It had been due to fly at 5.30pm but was delayed until around 8pm, he explained. Phillip was seated at the back of the plane and said they had been in the air less than an hour when the incident occurred.
He said cabin crew were handing out individual meals to people who had requested gluten free, Halal or vegetarian food, and were taking them out of the large trolleys, which had not yet begun being wheeled down the aisles. He said once the turbulence hit the food "went everywhere... everything just smashed out".
He recalled a "very sudden jerking of the plane, which was pretty violent". "We didn’t get any warning we were going to hit any turbulence. I looked out of the window and there was a massive lightning storm, then within a couple of seconds I was literally hitting the ceiling, coming back down, hitting the ceiling again, coming back down. Didn’t know what was going on.
Food and luggage was thrown around the cabin (Phillip Crossdale)
Passengers were flung into the ceiling (Phillip Crossdale)"I could see that the masks had come down and I was terrified that this was going to be the end. That I was going to die. The whole cabin was in shock, there was screaming, all the luggage was falling out. There was food everywhere. People’s iPads and tablets were flying around the cabin and hitting people on the heads. It was just like you were in a disaster movie. You couldn’t imagine what happened unless you’ve seen a film where a plane was going down."
He said eventually the plane levelled out and the pilot regained control. The seatbelt signs came back on and then around 10 minutes later the pilot said over the Tannoy in a "blasé way" that he was "'sorry about that...we hit a bit of turbulence and everything is okay now'. We had gone through that and he also said 'just to inform you, we’re going to hit turbulence again in 19 minutes'."
Phillip said: "It was like, what, you’re warning us now about turbulence, why did you not warn us about that one? Why if you know there is turbulence there are you not avoiding it after we just went through that? Why are you doing this?" He described how the cabin crew went up and down the aisle checking passengers and administering first aid "even though they'd been bashed about, thrown up to the ceiling" themselves.
Oxygen masks released as the plane plummeted (Phillip Crossdale)
Passengers were screaming as cabin crew also tried to brace themselves (Phillip Crossdale)"They were still very professional about what they were doing," he said. However, he said he was a little concerned when they allegedly all began "rushing" to the back of the plane to look up emergency protocol. "Did they know the procedures? The fact they are reading up on the procedures was a bit like why do you not know what you’re doing?
"We got told we were going to have to divert to Bermuda due to seriousness of one passenger’s injuries, that was the closest place we could go to." They then flew back on themselves and two hours later came into land in Bermuda. Phillip said there were fire engines and ambulances on the ground as they came in. "The paramedics then came on and took off the most severely injured and then those that had more minor injuries also got off and got treated inside the airport terminal. They advised I went to hospital to get scanned."
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The passengers were then put up in a hotel before being flown back to Manchester on December 27. Phillip went to see his GP and was signed off work as a teacher for special needs children for six weeks due to severe whiplash.
Phillip said he feared the plane would crash (Phillip Crossdale)
The cabin crew had just started serving food (Phillip Crossdale)A P&O spokesperson previously said at the time: “A flight from Barbados to Manchester was diverted to Bermuda earlier yesterday morning following freak (unexpected) turbulence. Having explored all flying options and due to airport operating times, guests are in hotels today [December 25]. We are very sorry for this disruption to their journey following their holiday and we are working with the airline and hotels to take care of them and ensure they get home as soon as possible tomorrow.”
Bermuda’s acting minister of National Security, Owen Darrell, said: “We are aware of the situation and are diligently working to ensure the well-being of all involved. We are extremely grateful for the quick response of all our emergency services personnel who ensured the safety of the passengers and crew.”
A P&O Cruises spokesperson told the Mirror: "The aircraft diverted to Bermuda following unexpected clear air turbulence on the return flight from Barbados. As the aircraft needed to undergo required legislative checks before it could take off, hotel accommodation was found for all guests in the best hotels on the island.
"Our Care team was in contact with those guests who needed medical attention and they were seen by doctors immediately upon arrival into Bermuda. Our Guest and Care team has followed up with guests on several occasions since arrival back into the UK to apologise once again and provide follow up information as needed.”