A PLANE full of passengers were left terrified after the cabin suddenly filled with smoke shortly after take off from Otopeni Airport in Romania.
Pilots of the Ryanair flight were then forced to make an emergency landing after declaring Mayday.
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The incident took place on Tuesday morning on a flight that was bound for London Stansted from the Romanian capital of Bucharest.
The flight was originally scheduled for 6:40am but it was delayed due to an issue with the original plane.
After a replacement aircraft was found, the flight took off from Otopeni at the later time of 10.57am.
But just minutes into the flight, the a Boeing 737-800 with 169 passengers and four crew members on board started filling with smoke.
The captain declared Mayday and signalled an emergency in order to return to the airport.
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According to witnesses, the smoke started to fill the cabin when the plane had climbed to 5,000 feet.
After landing, many turned to social media to share their experiences.
Cosmin Malureanu wrote: “It was a traumatic experience, as soon as I took off everything was filled with smoke. We could not even see two rows in front of us.”
They also complained that the crew did little to calm things down.
Cosmin said: “It was very bad, the crew was quiet. We didn’t even see the oxygen masks that should fall in such a condition. It was nothing and I was in real panic.”
In order to stop inhaling the smoke, many passengers stuffed scarves or clothing over their mouths to try and get clean air.
The airline arranged a third plane to take passengers to London at around 3pm – but 29 people were reportedly so traumatised they refused to travel with the airline.
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A spokesperson for Ryanair told Sun Online Travel: “This flight from Bucharest to London (21 Jan) was delayed due to a minor technical issue with aircraft.
“To minimise the delay, customers boarded a replacement aircraft which was de-iced before it departed to London.
“Shortly after take-off the aircraft returned to Bucharest as a precaution after the cabin crew reported an unidentified smoke in the cabin (which we believe was caused by the de-icing fluid being ingested through the air conditioning system).
“The crew notified local ATC and the aircraft landed normally at Bucharest, where it is being inspected by Ryanair engineers.
“Refreshment vouchers were provided, and passengers boarded another replacement aircraft which departed for London Stansted shortly after. Ryanair sincerely apologised to affected customers for this delay.”
Last year, another plane cabin filled with smoke but it was revealed to be an air conditioning glitch.
And an engine oil leak sparked an emergency evacuation after it caused the plane to fill up with smoke.
A Flybe plane was also evacuated after the cabin filled with smoke.
