‘WE WERE FLUNG ABOUT LIKE EGGS IN A METAL TUBE’
WEXFORD DAD AND FAMILY ON TERRIFYING FLIGHT IN WHICH 23 HURT
A WEXFORD father-of-three has told how he and his family were flung around like ‘eggs in a metal tube’ during a terrifying transatlantic flight.
David Fowler said he feared the worst after he and his partner Zoe and their 20-month-old daughter Phoebe were catapulted into the air as the lights went out and the plane dropped thousands of feet after it hit severe turbulence as it flew from Houston to Heathrow.
With passengers and crew nursing cuts and bruises, the United Airlines Boeing 767-300 subsequently made an emergency landing in Shannon Airport. Twenty three people were hurt in the incident 300 miles south-west of Ireland.
‘I had my 20-month-old daughter Phoebe sat beside me and my partner, the other two children were in their seats to the left of me when there was a little shake.. Phoebe was a little bit restless and pushed herself on to the floor between Zoe and me,’ said David, the son of Breda Fowler, from Liam Mellows Park.
‘ The next thing there was a bang and I hit the ceiling as did my partner.. Phoebe had hit the back of the seat.. I landed sideways in my seat, picked her up and got my seatbelt back on.
‘ The turbulence carried on.. everyone was screaming. My other daughter (Madeleine, aged 10) hit her head and was quite hysterical,’ said David, adding that his 18-year-old son Caleb held Madeleine’s hand to try to calm her.
David said there were 10 people in their party, among them his sister in law’s twoand-a-half year old daughter Liliana who came out of her belt, hit the roof of the plane and the seat when she came down, causing her face to swell.
‘My other sister in law’s son was making his way back from the toilet and again he hit the ceiling,’ said David, who lives in Warringtown, in Cheshire.
Still in darkness things began to calm down as the plane levelled off, however, ‘children were still screaming’.
David said after what appeared like a long time, a member of the cabin crew came through the cabin to assess the extent of the injuries suffered by the passengers, among them one of his sister in law’s who had blood coming from her head.
He described the experience as a nightmare.
‘ There’s nothing you can do, but try to remain calm, but you fear for your life... you are like an egg in a metal tube 30,000 feet in the air,’ he told this newspaper.
‘It was a little bit strange, Craig, my brother in law, and I looked at each other during the incident and seemed quite chilled, and it’s only when you get off that you realise what a big incident it was,’ said David.
‘I saw some pictures on the television last night and did get a little bit emotional. But we’re getting back to normal now and I’m sure there will be some people reliving it,’ he said, praising staff and paramedics at Shannon for their response to the emergency and for their care of the passengers and injured crew members.
A total of 12 people including three children and two crew were taken to University Hospital in Limerick. Most were treated in the airport terminal. Passengers on the flight continued their journey to London on Wednesday on an alternative aircraft.