A Ryanair flight was diverted 450 miles away in a different country due to a severe thunderstorm which meant it could not land at its planned destination.
The plane took off from Edinburgh Airport at 5.45am on October 4 and headed for Tirana, Albania.
However, a thunderstorm forced the pilot to land in Greece at 10.20am, according to Flight Radar.
Camille Allison was travelling with her partner Heather when the flight suffered “horrible turbulence”.
The couple said they have been left feeling “traumatised” after the ordeal.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said the plane could not land in Tirana due to a thunderstorm and was later struck by lightening.
Passengers were offered a later flight and therefore not eligible for a refund.
Before travelling I was aware of thunderstorms in Albania because I was regularly checking the forecast,” Allison told Edinburgh Live.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
“Everything was going fine and I slept the whole flight. When we were supposed to land, I woke up, and it wasn’t until the flight started to land there as really bad turbulence.
“We were not touching the seats anymore. Thankfully nobody got hurt because we were prepared for landing so everyone had their belts on but it was terrifying.
“The whole time I was trying to calm my partner down because she was freaking out. She has a heart condition and isn’t even supposed to go on rollercoasters so I was really scared for her. Everyone was crying, there was a kid in front of us who was sick.”
The airline offered an alternative flight at 5.15pm.
The plane took off from Edinburgh Airport at 5.45am on October 4 and headed for Tirana, Albania
PA
However, Allison said she did not want to put her partner through anymore trauma as the thunderstorm continued until 8pm so they flew back to Edinburgh on October 5.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from Edinburgh to Tirana (4 Oct) diverted to Athens due to thunderstorms at Tirana Airport.
“During the diversion, the aircraft encountered a lightning strike before landing normally at Athens Airport. Passengers disembarked to the terminal and were provided with vouchers to use in the terminal shops and restaurants, while engineers inspected the aircraft in line with standard procedure.
“To minimise disruption to passengers, a replacement aircraft was arranged to operate this flight to Tirana, which departed later that night. As this flight operated and this passenger chose not to fly on it, they are not entitled to a refund.”
