Ryanair plane forced to make embarrassing U-turn on RUNWAY after elderly wheelchair passenger ‘left behind’
HOLIDAYMAKERS were left stunned after an elderly Ryanair passenger in a wheelchair was "left behind" following a bizarre airline blunder.
Flight FR 6700 was due to depart from Bordeaux, France, at 10pm yesterday bound for Edinburgh.
But the journey was delayed by more than two hours.
Things then took a turn for the worse when it emerged that an elderly wheelchair user had been left behind as the plane was taxiing for take off.
One shocked passenger claims the pilot was forced to do a U-turn on the runway after being informed that a "personal item" left behind was, in fact, a passenger and her companion.
The flight eventually touched down in Edinburgh at 1.12am, more than two hours later than scheduled.
Travellers then faced another long wait on the runway as the crew waited for a stance.
The eyewitness told The Scottish Sun: "The pilot apologised repeatedly at the start and the end of the flight.
"He was really apologetic to the specific passenger, saying he'd been told it was a personal item that had been left behind only to be updated it was a passenger when he finally arrived back at the stance.
"He said something about staff in the airport being overwhelmed."
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The weary passenger claims it then took another 40 minutes to get through passport control at Edinburgh Airport.
They added: "They got us on the buses where we waited 5-10 minutes before they finally got us to the terminal, which was rammed.
"It took close to 40 minutes to get through passport control, though the elderly passenger would have been front of the queue.
"It was about 2.20am before I got out, with a massive queue still behind me."
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: "It is unacceptable that Bordeaux Airport failed to provide this passenger with the special assistance required to board this flight from Bordeaux to Edinburgh (19 Sept) despite Ryanair paying for this service.
"Not only did they fail to board this passenger, but they misinformed the crew on this flight that all passengers had been boarded when in fact this passenger had not, and the aircraft began to taxi onto the runway.
"Ground staff at Bordeaux Airport realised their error and notified the crew who returned to stand in order to board the passenger.
"It is abysmal that Ryanair customers requiring special assistance are being let down by Bordeaux Airport and we are working with them to ensure that this does not recur.”
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