ClearedForTakeOff
21-10-09, 18:58
Plane dismantled after passenger loses mobile phone
By Graham Smith
Last updated at 8:19 AM on 21st October 2009
Hundreds of holidaymakers were delayed when their plane had to be dismantled after a passenger dropped a mobile phone down an air vent inside the aircraft.
The Jet2 aircraft, which was bound for Newcastle, had just landed at Murcia in Spain when the handset went missing.
As the phone was switched on, airline bosses refused permission for the plane to fly back to the UK with an 'unknown electrical device' on board.
Jet2 plane
'Patient': Hundreds of passengers were delayed when their Jet2 flight had to be dismantled after a passenger dropped a mobile phone down an air vent
Passengers waiting to board had to sit in the departure lounge while engineers tore the aircraft apart searching for the handset.
They then watched as the cockpit area and three rows of seats were dismantled.
A passenger on the outbound flight to Murcia had dropped the mobile while the plane made its way to the terminal.
The plane eventually departed for Newcastle International Airport three hours behind schedule.
Production manager Willie Armstrong, of Killingworth, North Tyneside, had been away for the weekend with a friend.
The 54-year-old said: 'Apparently a lady on the inbound flight stood up and switched on her phone before the plane reached the terminal.
'Then she dropped it and kicked it under the seats into one of the air vents at the side.
'It's certainly worrying when you see them bringing the seats out and dismantling the plane before you're about to get on it.
'The whole of the front section around the cockpit and the door was raised up like a tin of beans, then they brought all the big lifting gear out.
A spokesperson for Jet2 thanked the passengers for their patience.
He said: 'Whilst it was no doubt inconvenient that people had to wait for us to retrieve the phone, any mobile or similar communications device that is switched on would need to be removed from the aircraft in order to ensure maximum safety for our passengers.
'We would like to remind all those travelling by air not to switch their phones on until they reach the airport terminal.'
By Graham Smith
Last updated at 8:19 AM on 21st October 2009
Hundreds of holidaymakers were delayed when their plane had to be dismantled after a passenger dropped a mobile phone down an air vent inside the aircraft.
The Jet2 aircraft, which was bound for Newcastle, had just landed at Murcia in Spain when the handset went missing.
As the phone was switched on, airline bosses refused permission for the plane to fly back to the UK with an 'unknown electrical device' on board.
Jet2 plane
'Patient': Hundreds of passengers were delayed when their Jet2 flight had to be dismantled after a passenger dropped a mobile phone down an air vent
Passengers waiting to board had to sit in the departure lounge while engineers tore the aircraft apart searching for the handset.
They then watched as the cockpit area and three rows of seats were dismantled.
A passenger on the outbound flight to Murcia had dropped the mobile while the plane made its way to the terminal.
The plane eventually departed for Newcastle International Airport three hours behind schedule.
Production manager Willie Armstrong, of Killingworth, North Tyneside, had been away for the weekend with a friend.
The 54-year-old said: 'Apparently a lady on the inbound flight stood up and switched on her phone before the plane reached the terminal.
'Then she dropped it and kicked it under the seats into one of the air vents at the side.
'It's certainly worrying when you see them bringing the seats out and dismantling the plane before you're about to get on it.
'The whole of the front section around the cockpit and the door was raised up like a tin of beans, then they brought all the big lifting gear out.
A spokesperson for Jet2 thanked the passengers for their patience.
He said: 'Whilst it was no doubt inconvenient that people had to wait for us to retrieve the phone, any mobile or similar communications device that is switched on would need to be removed from the aircraft in order to ensure maximum safety for our passengers.
'We would like to remind all those travelling by air not to switch their phones on until they reach the airport terminal.'