ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 280716
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| Date: | Thursday 21 July 2022 |
| Time: | 10:36 UTC |
| Type: |  Airbus A320-214 |
| Owner/operator: | Vueling Airlines |
| Registration: | EC-KRH |
| MSN: | 3529 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2008 |
| Engine model: | CFMI CFM56-5B4/P |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 136 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Location: | Barcelona-El Prat Josep Tarradellas Airport (BCN/LEBL) -
 Spain
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Barcelona-El Prat Josep Tarradellas Airport (BCN/LEBL) |
| Birmingham International Airport (BHX/EGBB) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Vueling Airlines flight VY8754 , an Airbus A320-214, suffered an APU fire/smoke incident while at the gate at Barcelona Airport, Spain. All occupants were forced to disembark.There has been widespread press and media coverage stating that the captain of the aircraft "abandoned" the aircraft and its passengers, and left the passengers and the remaining crew to "fend for themselves", quote:
"A pilot on a Spanish budget airline has been accused of fleeing from a plane as it set alight. The ‘explosion’ happened on a Vueling flight from Barcelona to Birmingham on Saturday.
Smoke started to fill the cabins and passengers were left even more stunned to discover the pilot had escaped the aircraft rather than look out for their safety.
Andrew Benion, 50, said he was belting up when there suddenly was a ‘huge bang’ and the smell of smoke from the back of the plane. All the lights went off and the emergency lights came on – it was terrifying,’ he told The Sun. 'One ran into the cockpit to tell the captain. Then as soon as a stewardess opened the front door the captain ran straight off. He was just gone. He was first off the plane. He did a full Costa Concordia.’
Mr Benion, from Telford, Shropshire, had been on a Mediterranean cruise with his wife Clare, 46, for his 50th birthday.Mr Benion said the stewardess began screaming for everyone to get off after the pilot fled, while a Spanish passenger next to them said ‘the plane is on fire’. 'We couldn’t believe the captain just left us like that – he was running off to safety and we were all sat there like lemmings,’ he added.
The travellers were then escorted into a locked room at the airport and surrounded by police for an hour. Mr Benion said they were finally taken onto another plane, but made to wait for a further 90 minutes while it was refuelled, and a new pilot showed up. They were forced to travel with Vueling after British Airways cancelled their return flight.
‘Next thing the stewards start going into meltdown, running up and down aisle – first, telling everyone to keep belts on, then to tell everyone to take their belts off'.
The incident aircraft resumed service about 30 hours after the event.
Sources:
1. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11041943/British-passengers-react-fury-captain-flees-plane.html.
2. https://metro.co.uk/2022/07/24/smoke-fills-vueling-plane-after-explosion-as-pilot-flees-over-runway-17056336/
3. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/19294320/captain-flees-plane-and-passengers-after-fire-breaks-out/
4. https://www.radarbox.com/data/registration/ec-krh/1681310695
5. https://twitter.com/vueling/status/1551119018144169984
Media:
EC-KRH at Schiphol (AMS/EHAM), Amsterdam, Netherlands, October 2018:On 21 July 2022, a small fire was detected flight VY8754 scheduled to depart from Barcelona to Birmingham at 11.55. The security protocols were initiated immediately and all passengers and crew were quickly disembarked from the aircraft 1/2
— Vueling Airlines (@vueling) July 24, 2022
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Jul-2022 09:14 | harro | Added |
| 24-Jul-2022 09:16 | harro | Updated [Time, Location, Narrative] |
| 24-Jul-2022 12:56 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Total occupants, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category] |
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