Now I’ve heard of people being asked to change seats on an aircraft due to weight distribution problems but it must surely be something of a first when passengers have been asked to get off a plane that was found to be too heavy to take off.
But that’s exactly what happened to passengers hoping to return from Lanzarote to Liverpool on an EasyJET flight on 5th July.
Moments before they were due to take off the captain announced that there was “a bit of a problem”.
Apparently calculations had shown that a combination of the short runway, extreme heat, wind direction and the weight of the passengers meant that there was no way for the aircraft to safely get airborne.
As a result the captain asked for 20 volunteers to stay behind. In the event 19 agreed to each accept €500 to kick their heels at the airport til the next day. It’s unclear what happened to their luggage.
At the other end of the scale on the 6th July 38-year old Hannah Maden-Adams found herself as the sole passenger checking in for her £188 return flight from Ibiza to Jersey.
As a result she was chauffeured from the boarding gate to the plane in a car.
When she first turned up at the airport she was told that no flights were due to depart that day from Ibiza to Jersey, in spite of which she managed to check in, receiving 5-star service from the crew who were equally surprised to find that she was the sole passenger.
It seems that the first flight that day to Jersey had departed that morning and they hadn’t expected anyone would be flying back in the afternoon.
In spite of everything the crew still went through all the safety instructions and announcements and when she landed she was escorted through to arrivals which had been opened just for her – but she still had to wait for her luggage to arrive at baggage claim!
Being a Tuesday I was once again joined by Margaret Mills who’s subject today involved a multi-talented Chelmsford born man who rejoiced in the name of PHILEMON HOLLAND.
It seems that this worthy gentleman included being, amongst other things both a schoolmaster and physician.
Listen here to what Margaret had to say about this man: –
I hope to see you again next week,
Scott
