Belfast bound flight had near miss
06.06.09
A flight carrying holidaymakers from Turkey back to Belfast was forced to take avoiding action to keep a safe distance from a military aircraft, the BBC reports. Passengers travelling on the flight said the plane turned on its side, and one told the news service that he 'thought that was it'.
Thomson Holidays confirmed the captain of a flight operated on its behalf by Skyservice Airlines from Dalaman was forced to take evasive action. A spokesperson said: ‘There are no reported injuries but we are taking the incident extremely seriously.’
Glentoran footballer Jason Hill, who was on board with his partner and 13-month-old daughter, said he panicked and thought the plane was going to crash. He said: ‘There were people behind us crying, there were grown men nearly in tears. I really thought that was it - when the plane went on its side, all you could see was the sea. There was nothing anybody could do.’
PJ Gillespie, from Castlederg, said he thought he was about to die when the plane turned on its side. He said: 'Everybody was screaming, anybody who wasn't screaming was shouting 'get it back, get it back. Eventually the plane levelled out again and the captain came on immediately to say that he was very sorry for what had happened but he had to take urgent evasive action to avoid a collision.’
The flight continued its journey to Belfast International Airport after the incident on Monday. The Thomson spokesperson said that Skyservice Airlines had completed an air proximity report and a full investigation is now being carried out by the Turkish authorities.
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