Mum’s anger after daughter, 7, had broken seat that came loose on easyJet flight
Melanie Hill said she was forced to hold her little girl as the plane came into land
A MUM has spoken of her horror at finding her young daughter had been allocated a broken seat that came loose on an easyJet flight.
Melanie Hill was travelling home to Tenerife from Southend with her two young children when she was handed the faulty chair.
The 31-year-old said she was forced to hold seven-year-old Felicia into her seat during the four and a half hour flight and as the plane came into land.
Speaking to Sun Online she said: “We got on the flight. It was completely full, the air hostess said there would be no spare seats so we sat down and got ready to go home.
“I noticed that the window seat – where my daughter was insisting on sitting – was completely broken. The base of the seat was not attached to the chair."
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She added: “It was a complete nightmare. Everytime she moved it came apart. The seat just came flying off."
Mum-of-two Melanie – who has lived in Spain for the last ten years – added: “All she cared about was having the window seat. She was screaming so when we landed I put her in it and had to put my arms around her to hold her in.
“As soon as the brakes went she flew forward.
“I held her in the chair as we landed. I held her in the seat and put my arm round her.
“I could not believe it.
“Because there were no available seats and I just wanted to get home I didn’t say anything to the air hostess.
“In the event that the plane crashed or was required to stop suddenly this would've been extremely dangerous as the seat would have flown forward.
“There were no other seat options available for my daughter as the plane was full.”
The family had been visiting relatvies in in Colchester, Essex over the Christmas period and were flying home on New Year’s Eve.
Melanie said she frequently flies back home on easyJet but added: “I have not heard back from EasyJet since I complained except for their automated response. I would never travel with them again.”
Now Melanie, who works in marketing, has questioned what else may be broken on flights.
She said: “Someone has been in touch with me to say they were on the same flight a week later and the exact same seat was still broken.
“It makes you question what else they are missing if they haven’t spotted a broken seat.”
A spokesman for the airline said: “easyJet is sorry that one of the seats Ms Hill and her family were seated in was broken.
"Unfortunately, this was a full flight and due to adverse weather on 31 December, which resulted in some flight cancellations, it was not possible to swap the aircraft.
"We apologise this was the case and a member of our customer team will be in contact with Ms Hill directly."
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