Plane passengers told by pilot they’re ‘heading for a watery grave’

A pilot of a plane carrying hundreds of holiday makers left passengers ‘traumatised’ after telling them they could have been ‘heading for a watery grave.’

plane12

by Fiona Day |
Published on

Passengers were flying from the Caribbean when the Monarch Airlines jet ran into trouble and had to make an emergency landing in Barbados after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit.

Passengers were forced to spend the night on the island before catching a flight home the next day.

Shockingly, the pilot greeted his stressed out passengers by recounting a similar air incident in 1999 which led to the plane crashing and the loss of all 213 passengers on board.

He told passengers that they ‘could have been heading for a watery grave.'

Passengers were understandably upset by the comments following the trauma of their previous flying experience.

One passenger wrote on Facebook: ‘Safety is of course the most paramount consideration. But to mention planes flipping over and watery graves as you wait to take off is totally unacceptable.’

Passengers were flying from the Caribbean to London before the plane was forced to make an emergency landing (stock image)
Passengers were flying from the Caribbean to London before the plane was forced to make an emergency landing (stock image)

Another passenger tweeted: ‘Hmm, interesting evening. Emergency landing in Barbados. Smoke in the cockpit. Dumped 40 tons of fuel on those poor little turtles before dropping like a stone into Barbados. Fire trucks following behind. I've had better experiences. Looking forward to Finally getting home!’

The holidaymakers eventually made it back to London, but understandably a bit shaken up.

Monarch Airlines apologized for the incident, writing in a statement: ‘We always encourage pilots to give regular and open updates to our customers.’

‘On this occasion, during one update, he used an inappropriate choice of words and has expressed his regret in doing so.’

‘Every effort is being made to refund additional expenses incurred as a result of the delay.’

Just so you know, we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website - read why you should trust us