One passenger claimed cabin crew had told her they had ‘never experienced anything like it’
Husna Anjum Senior Live News Reporter and Peter Hennessy
11:55, 29 Dec 2025Updated 11:58, 29 Dec 2025
The Ryanair flight returned to its departure airport in the UK after around 90 minutes (stock image)(Image: Nicholas.T.Ansell/PA Wire)
A woman says she has been left “traumatised” after enduring extreme turbulence on a Ryanair flight that ‘flung people from seats’ and caused injuries.
The 33-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous, told BirminghamLive the incident was ‘like something from a horror movie’. The flight left Birmingham for Tenerife at around 2.50pm yesterday (December 28), before its crew issued an emergency signal (squawk 7700) over Brittany, France, at an altitude of 35,000ft.
Passengers told The Aviation Herald the turbulence occurred while cabin service was in progress, causing injuries to a number of people. The flight turned around and descended to an altitude of 10,000ft.
Ryanair flight officials issued an emergency signal (squawk 7700) over Brittany, France, after reaching an altitude of 35,000ft(Image: X)
The woman, from Lichfield, Staffordshire, said: “I was on this flight. It felt like something you see on a horror movie. We were smooth cruising then, out of nowhere all of a sudden, the plane jerked to the left extremely quickly and then to the right.
“It felt like a loss of control, and then we plummeted down and we were flung out of our seats. I came out physically unharmed but the mental toll this has taken is awful.
“Other passengers said to me they saw a fighter jet pass us by just before it happened. How do you not pick up on a planes radar other planes in the area? It doesn’t make sense.
“Who knows – I would like real answers though, this has really traumatised me. The cabin crew said within their 10 years as cabin crew they’ve never experienced anything like it.”
The plane safely touched down in Birmingham around one hour and 32 minutes after departure. According to AirLive, it was stationed at a remote stand within the airport for paramedics to attend to passengers.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “FR1121 from Birmingham to Tenerife on 28th December returned to Birmingham Airport shortly after take-off due to air turbulence.”The aircraft landed normally before passengers disembarked and returned to the terminal, where a small number of passengers were provided with medical assistance. This flight continued to Tenerife at 21:06 local.”
A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said: “We were made aware of the aircraft returning to BHX and initiated the normal operating procedures to support Ryanair.”