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Flying Ryanair no cup of tea: Poland flight diverted to Germany

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) on Sep 2nd 2010 at 11:00AM

When wackiness hits the European skies, it's usually safe to guess that Ryanair is somehow involved. A British plane from this discount carrier had to land in Germany – rather than in Poland, its intended destination – because a passenger couldn't keep her tea in her cup.

The 56-year-old British woman spilled hot tea on herself, according to German police, forcing the flight from Liverpool to Poznan to make an unanticipated stop in Bremen. She was treated for scalding, according to Reuters, and released. But, her plane left without her. So, she finished her journey by train, which was probably much more comfortable.

Hey, come to think it, even hot tea on your lap is probably better than flying Ryanair ...

[Photo by bigpresh via Flickr]

Filed under: Europe, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, Airlines

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Unexpected Traveller Sep 2nd 2010 11:53AM

hot tea on lap better than Ryanair? Hmm ... probably you're right but I'd still rather you tried it than I! :-)

Ryanair keep getting bad reps (I wrote one too: ) but ultimately people must be prepared to put up with "good enough" as otherwise it would have gone out of business.

There's a certain amount of respect that I must concede to Ryanair for digging deep and discovering how low they can go and still have people happily give them money for that.

Laura Sep 2nd 2010 1:08PM

I don't know if I can blame Ryanair for this one though. Except for perhaps serving tea that is clearly too hot in an unsuitable container, they did the right thing by getting that poor passenger some treatment.

Danny G Sep 2nd 2010 1:46PM

What an outstanding article!

I always find people's opinion on Ryanair quite funny. On the very same day a safety report was released about a British Airways 777 taking off from the wrong intersection of a runway in the Caribbean, leaving them with just over 1200m to get the ol' bird into the air, nearly killing all on board, the internet is awash with Ryanair bashing articles, such as this one, slating the airline because an elderly passenger spilt her brew.

From reading this article, would it be fair to make the assumption that you would rather the crew had continued to their intended destination with a passenger seeking medical assistance? Had the same situation occurred on Ireland's "Legitimate" carrier (you know, the one with the green shamrock) would you have still written your article in the same manner, or even written it at all?

Ryanair has a gold star when it comes to their safety record and is envied by airlines around the world, operating a fleet of aircraft with an average age of 3 yrs. The training and maintenance departments within the company are held in very high regard and is on par with any other airline in the world.

Almost two years ago, a Ryanair aircraft was on final approach into Rome Ciampino airport. The aircraft suffered a massive bird strike and lost thrust on both engines as a result, very similar to an incident that happened not so long ago in New York which I'm sure you're familiar with. The crew of the Ryanair aircraft managed to land the aircraft safely on the runway and all passengers survived. The same incident in New York resulted in the aircraft touching down in the hudson river. The crews of both aircraft deserved a pat on the back of massive proportions for their actions and for ensuring the safety of their passengers. Yet public perception was that Ryanair has had yet another incident due to poor crew training, badly maintained aircraft etc.. etc.. and yet across the atlantic the crew of said Cactus aircraft are being hailed as heros.

I reckon this argument will go on as long as Ryanair's operations continue to, particularly when a strange minority would rather severe burning to their groin area than a seat on a safe and efficient European airline.

Dan