As a long-time lurker on this forum (former airline employee, currently regular offshore helicopter passenger) I have never felt qualified to comment on any subject, but in this case I most certainly can!
My wife and I were passengers on this particular flight (GSM032 25June 2007)). We checked in at the normal time at Alicante, and on passing through to departures found we had a 1 hour delay. Someone heard a rumour that the outbound flight ex ABZ had been forced to divert to Stansted to refuel - that didn't particularly bother me.
At about 2130 local we were invited to board the aircraft. At this time I noticed a fire engine with blue lights flashing in the vicinity of our aircraft, but didn't pay much heed. After settling into our seats, there was a short delay and then we were asked to unbuckle our seatbelts whilst the aircraft was being refuelled. After a further delay the captain came on the intercom and announced that due to a faulty fuel filter "about half a ton" of fuel had spilled onto the tarmac and that we should get off while this was cleaned up.
There was a further delay of about 1-1/2 hours, during which the only thing I was concerned about was the crew's flying hour limitations (I used to plan pilot rosters many years ago). At the time of reboarding, one family of passengers were seen to get off the aircraft and go back to the terminal on the bus, followed by a short delay while their baggage was removed - this was also announced over the tannoy.
The aircraft then departed the stand, and proceeded at what I thought was a slightly faster taxying speed than usual to the runway. It was at this time that the panic started - someone at the back shouted "whoa" and then all hell let loose. We were in seats 11A and B so we couldn't see the affected wing, but passengers on the other side of the aircraft were standing up, shouting "Stop the
plane, we want to get off!" One woman in particular was screaming hysterically (I will return to her later), young children were crying and passengers were pressing the call-buttons. The aircraft reached the end of the runway and paused - passengers were still shouting - "get this plane off the
runway" and the screaming woman was still giving it plenty.
The Captain came on to the tannoy and told us that the overflow of fuel seen from the wing was a normal occurrence in this kind of situation, but it was obvious there was no way that everyone was going to sit down, so he stated his intention to return to the stand and let anyone who wanted to get off do so.
At least we were spared the tedium of having to deplane once more - we waited at the stand whilst all the baggage was removed, identified and split for travelling and non-travelling passengers. Finally, at about 0130 local time, we were airborne without any further fuss.
The points to note about this incident were how easily panic spreads - my initial reaction to the shouts was that something must have caught fire, and I was measuring the distance between myself and the overwing exit, but this was only for a second or so as it became obvious that it was the fuel problem. Personally if the pilot is happy to fly, so am I - he gets to the scene of the accident before I do so I might have time to call him a dreadful name before....
Also the cabin crew seemed as misinformed as the rest of us at the initial point of panic. Two of the stewards were at the rear of the aircraft and didn't know what was going on - I could not tell what was happening up front. We must have been holding on the runway for a good 2-3 minutes before the Captain announced what was happening.
My local rag (The Aberdeen Press and Journal) reports this morning that 43 passengers got off the plane - I didn't think it was that many actually. One of the passengers who stayed on board was the screaming woman, who had easily been the noisiest complainant at the time of the incident.
I felt really sorry for the crew overall - they had had one hell of a day (Stansted refuel, fuel spillage at ALC, panicking passengers) - I bet they were happy to get to ABZ and finish their duty early the following morning. For myself, the worst aspect of the whole flight was ending up at ABZ in the freezing cold and rain after the warmth of Spain, at 0430 in the morning and not a taxi to be seen
I'll fly with Globespan again, not a problem for me
TTFN
Mark