Champagne cork forces easyJet plane to make emergency landing

An easyJet plane makes emergency landing after damage caused by champagne cork

Source: The Telegraph

By Nicola Harley

29 Aug 2015

An easyJet plane was forced to make an emergency landing after being damaged by a popping champagne cork.

The cork smashed ceiling panels after a stewardess opened the bottle for a customer.

It caused oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling.

The plane was halfway through a four hour flight from London Gatwick to Dalaman, Turkey.

The pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in Italy for repairs.

One passenger said: “It wasn’t very funny at the time but I can see the lighter side now.

 “All that hassle, delay and money wasted by easyJet – all over a champagne cork! No one on the flight could believe it and people I have spoken to have found it hilarious.”

The flight, which took off at 4.20pm on August 7, was diverted via Milan so the masks could be reset.

An easyJet spokesman said: “easyJet can confirm that flight EZY8845 from London Gatwick to Dalaman on 7 August diverted to Milan Malpensa as a precautionary measure due to a technical issue with the cabin crew oxygen masks.

“In line with safety procedures the captain took the correct decision to divert so that the cabin crew oxygen masks could be reset. The flight continued to Dalaman 1 hour and 7 minutes later once this had happened. Passengers were provided with a complimentary inflight service whilst on the ground in Milan Malpensa.

“The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority.

“We would like to apologise for the delay and any inconvenience caused.”