“The plane is too heavy to take off”: this is the unusual, and not necessarily reassuring, phrase heard by passengers on an EasyJet flight between Lanzarote, Spain, and Liverpool, United Kingdom, last Wednesday. Although the takeoff of the aircraft had already been delayed due to bad weather conditions, the captain had to solve another problem and… remove 19 passengers, according to reports. the parisian.
The event, filmed by a passenger, is unprecedented. While the plane was on the runway, the pilot first took the floor to inform the passengers of a total weight problem: “As there are a lot of you, the plane is quite heavy,” he cautiously advanced.
“The combination of a fairly short runway and the unfavorable conditions that currently prevail in Lanzarote make the aircraft too heavy to take off,” explained the commander. In the cabin, the passengers start to get angry when the plane is already late. Because outside the wind is blowing too strong for the control tower to authorize takeoff.
Volunteers compensated up to 500 euros
Except the passengers haven’t yet reached the end of their sentence. Very quickly, the pilot explains that he simply won’t be able to take off as is, even if the wind drops: “I’ve had discussions with our operational team and the only way to fix a problem with a heavy plane is to make it a little lighter.” And it is the somewhat surprised passengers who hear the pilot offer them… a deal.
The continuation of this amazing offer, it is EasyJet that told the liverpool echo. The company confirmed to the local newspaper “that 19 passengers on flight EZY3364 from Lanzarote to Liverpool have volunteered to travel on a later flight as the aircraft exceeded weight limits imposed by the weather.”
The British airline said in a statement that it was a “routine operational decision” taken “for security reasons.” He points out that, in this situation, “volunteers are paid in accordance with the regulations.”
The plane, which was supposed to take off at 9:45 p.m., did not leave the Lanzarote airport until 11:30 p.m., to land in England around 3:00 a.m. With 19 fewer passengers, but dozens more tired and upset.
Source: BFM TV
