Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
PLANE TERRIFYING
Family feared for their lives as jet is forced to make emergency landing after cockpit window shatters seven miles up in the air
A Coatbridge family were left horrified when a window on the plane they were flying home from their Florida holiday on shattered seven miles up in the air.
Iain Mitchell, wife Audrey and teenage son Innes were gripped by panic when the packed plane plummeted 26,000 feet in a matter of minutes.
Innes asked his dad “Are we going to die?” as the captain announced he was about to make an emergency landing.
Thankfully, the Icelandair Boeing 757, which was carrying another 152 passengers and seven crew members, landed “rockily” in Bagotville, 200km north of the city of Quebec, Canada.
Now safely back home in Carnbroe, Iain ( below) and his family are still “shattered and exhausted” by their frightening experience.
“My son turned to me and asked, ‘are we going to die’?”
A question no parent would ever want to be asked became a chilling reality for Iain Mitchell after a cockpit window shattered during his family’s flight home from a two-week break in Florida on Saturday.
Carnbroe man Iain, his wife Audrey and 15-yearold son Innes endured a “horrendous experience” as the Boeing 757 plummeted 26,000 feet in less than 10 minutes over Canadian airspace.
Iain, 55, told the Advertiser: “We were flying home from Orlando to Iceland, then onwards to Glasgow.
“I had just taken some medication and said to my wife Audrey that I was probably going to fall asleep as I had to drive to Castle Douglas to pick up our dogs when we got home.
“The next thing I know I was wakened from my sleep by Audrey punching me in the side saying, ‘something is happening’.
“The air hostess then said, ‘tables up, tables up; we are going to have to land’.
“No-one knew what was happening but Audrey said the plane was going down and the turbulence was pretty bad; you could see the nose of the plane was pointing downwards.
“We dropped 26,000 feet in less than 10 minutes and my son turned to me and asked, ‘are we going to die?’
“I said no and tried to reassure him, then the captain announced that ‘all systems were go’ but we had to land.
“It wasn’t your normal smooth landing; it was all a bit rocky and you could see lots of emergency vehicles on the runway.
“We were all very shaken up and were sat on the tarmac waiting to get off the plane when the captain announced a window had shattered in the cockpit.”
The Icelandair plane carrying the stunned Mitchell family and the other 152 passengers and seven crew members emergency landed in Bagotville, 200km north of Quebec City.
Iain said: “We didn’t know where we were; all we knew was that it was Canada.
“One of the passengers said she worked for Icelandair and became the spokeswoman for the airline.
“She told passengers they were being taken to local hotels and we stood in line waiting for buses.
“We were quite lucky as a lot of other families were split into different rooms but we got one together.
“The hotel actually ran out of food as it obviously wasn’t expecting as many guests to arrive all at once.
“We spent the night in the hotel and the next day we were sat on couches in the lobby when we were interviewed by journalists.
“We then got the call at about 4.30pm to say that another plane had arrived from Iceland to take us there and we got back on the bus to the airport.
“When we got there you could see the plane we landed in was still on the runway and it made us realise how lucky we all were.”
Iain, Audrey and Innes arrived back at Glasgow Airport on Sunday morning – 24 hours later than scheduled – and though now safely back home on Carnbroe soil, are still “shattered and exhausted” by their terrifying experience.
Iain (right) said: “My legs were like rubber on Monday and I think it’s all just sinking in now. My son, who is a pupil at Coatbridge High School, started doing work experience on Monday and before he left you could see he was shattered.
“We’re all pretty exhausted and just so glad to be home safe and sound.
“We haven’t heard from Icelandair since the incident happened, but
The next thing I know I was wakened by Audrey saying ‘something is happening’ Iain Mitchell
another passenger on the plane, who said he was with the airline, told us the cockpit window hadn’t been hit by anything and it had been a technical issue.
“He added that it had been a 20cm crack that started to spider.”
The Mitchell family holiday in Orlando every year and have mixed views on whether their frightening flight would put them off future air travel.
Iain said: “Audrey is saying she doesn’t think she could fly again, but I’ve already been on the phone booking the villa for Orlando next year!
“I think we will all be back on a plane again; it’s just the horrendous shock we’ve all been through is still very raw.”
An Icelandair statement read: “The aircraft was on route over Canada when pilots noticed a crack in one of the cockpit windows. Following standard procedures, they diverted to a nearby airport in Bagotville (Canada).”