From The Evening Telegraph:
Dundee couple in holiday jet scare
A Dundee couple thought they were going to die on board a smoke-filled holiday flight to Spain as the jet made an emergency landing in Valencia after engine failure, writes Graeme Strachan.
Doug Farquhar and Marilyn Timmons described the week-end mid-air panic which broke out on the Spanair flight from Prestwick to Alicante as the plane started to fill with smoke following an explosion.
They told how they thought their “last days had come” as the flight made an emergency landing amid a full-scale emergency at Manises Airport in Valencia.
Fire crews, ambulances and police raced to the airport as the plane began its descent.
The drama unfolded 30 minutes before the Spanair McDonnell Douglas MD-83 jet was due to land in Alicante on Saturday.
The 169 passengers heard a “loud explosion” and the aircraft began to plummet.
One of the two pilots on board flight 3374 made a mayday call and passengers were asked to adopt the crash position as the plane limped to a safe landing in Valencia.
The incident is under investigation.
It is believed the engine break-up was caused by a detachment in the left motor.
The Dundee couple were en-route to Benidorm for a week-long break.
Once they arrived in the Spanish resort around 5 am after being driven from Valencia by bus, Mr Farquhar called his brother-in-law Joe Miller in Dundee to tell him of the mid-air drama.
“Doug’s the most laid back person you could meet,” said Mr Miller today.
“Nothing bothers him — but he was clearly upset. He got a fright.
“Marilyn was crying on the phone. She is still upset, even speaking about it.
“They thought their last days had come. They are not very well.
“They were half-an-hour away from Alicante when they heard a loud explosion and one of the engines blew out.
“The plane started to descend pretty drastically.
“Smoke was coming in the cabin through the air vents. It was filled up with smoke.
“People were screaming — most thought they were away. They were asked to adopt the crash position.”
Doug said the female pilot did very well. She pulled the plane back up and was able to make an emergency landing in Valencia.
“Luckily, nobody was hurt,” he said.
Mr Miller said the Dundee couple were “not looking forward” to flying home.
“We were a bit shocked and are still trying to take it in.
“We are just so glad they are okay. We are thinking of them.”
Spanair reported the landing was completed with success and “without consequences”.
A spokeswoman for tour operators Seguro Holidays said, “We are looking into the incident but we can’t actually comment at the moment.
“We can’t comment until we get further details.”
The drama made the headlines in the Spanish Press.
A similar incident occurred in July 2002 when an MD-87 jet from Malaga to Munich with 103 people on board was forced to make an emergency landing in Manises due to a technical failure.
Fast-growing operator Seguro is Glasgow Prestwick’s largest holiday tour operator.
It has more than 30,000 holidays on sale from Glasgow Prestwick to Gran Canaria, Majorca, Benidorm and The Algarve.
It later emerged that a suspected bird-strike may have caused the engine failure and the jet has been withdrawn from service.
A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said, “The pilot recognised something hit one of the engines and decided to make an emergency landing.
“It was standard procedure and the plane landed safety. Seguro Holidays will be writing to everyone who was involved to explain what happened. We are just relieved that the pilots handled it so well.”