A family were locked in a bathroom for almost an hour at Dublin Airport and had to be rescued by firefighters who broke down the door, a court heard.
Owen Nolan, daughter Ailbhe, then aged nine, and sons Hugh and Max, who were five and two, had been trapped for 50 minutes as their airline continuously called for them to board their holiday flight to Spain on May 30th, 2022, Judge James O’Donohoe was told.
Barrister Karen Nolan, for Ailbhe, said the distressed mother of the children spent her time between trying to console her children and stop the plane taking off without them.
Counsel said the children were becoming more stressed after two failed attempts by maintenance staff to get them out of the bathroom that had child and adult facilities.
They had alerted staff to their predicament by pulling the emergency cord in the bathroom and 50 minutes later were told by firemen to stand back and protect themselves in a corner as the door was “coming in”, the Circuit Civil Court heard on Friday.
Judge O’Donohoe was told the stressful incident had been caused by the inside handle on the door having come off when the family had attempted to get out.
The family, who live at The Avenue, Riverside Manor, Kilcullen, Co Kildare, eventually made their flight, but their week-long holiday had been affected by the incident.
The court heard that Ailbhe, a student, was now aged 13 and her brothers were now nine and six, both of whom had settlement offers of €7,000 each ruled earlier by a judge in the District Court.
The family’s barrister said the Dublin Airport Authority had accepted an Injuries Board assessment of €21,000 compensation, inclusive of expenses, for Ailbhe, who had suffered significant distress as a result of the incident.
The barrister said Mr Nolan, through whom Ailbhe had sued the authority, was satisfied with the offer.
Judge O’Donohoe, approving the assessment, said he considered the amount of compensation as “on the mark”.