The plane, which had been due to land in Copenhagen at 9.45pm, was diverted to Newcastle Airport shortly after take-off on Tuesday (July 28) after a passenger required urgent medical attention. easyJet confirmed the diversion was due to a customer onboard requiring urgent medical attention, though it did not specify the nature of the emergency.
Passenger describes nut allergy incident
A passenger on board has since told the ECHO the incident was linked to a suspected nut allergy after another passenger opened a packet of nuts, despite repeated announcements from cabin crew that nuts were not permitted on the flight.
The passenger, who does not wish to be named, said: "We were just about to take off and the cabin crew said someone on the flight had a nut allergy and no one would be allowed to eat nuts on the flight."
"They said it twice. Before take-off, when we were out on the runway, a woman started opening a packet of nuts and handed them to her kids. They started to eat them and the cabin crew once again announced there would be no nuts allowed on the flight."
"I could smell the nuts as soon as she opened them. Quite a few people reacted and the flight attendant told her she needed to close the bag immediately."
The passenger said the situation became increasingly concerning once the aircraft was airborne. "We couldn't do much as we had only just taken off, so we had to remain seated. The woman, who was sat in front of the woman with the nuts, started to get worse and worse. Luckily there was a doctor on board who could help her. The crew decided they would divert the plane and we did an emergency landing in Newcastle."
The passenger said the woman appeared to be struggling to breathe and was treated by medical staff when the aircraft landed. "It was very dramatic. When we landed, paramedics came onboard and the woman was taken in an ambulance. I don't think the woman did it out of any harm. She must have just missed the messages. The other passengers weren't annoyed at the diversion, they were mostly concerned for the woman with the allergy."
The flight was delayed for around an hour while the incident was dealt with before continuing its journey to Copenhagen, arriving at around 12.30am.
easyJet response
When approached by the ECHO, easyJet did not confirm the nature of the medical emergency but said the diversion was made after a passenger required urgent medical attention. They said: "Flight EZY2237 from Manchester to Copenhagen diverted to Newcastle, due to a customer onboard requiring urgent medical attention. The customer was met by medical services on arrival and the flight continued to Copenhagen."
The airline added: "The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is always easyJet's highest priority."
