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A flight carrying England fans back from Berlin was forced to make an emergency landing due to what the airline said was an “undefined smell in the cabin”.
The Manchester-bound flight was forced to return to the German airport just minutes after takeoff this morning.
Flight EW8470 took off at 8.09am and climbed to 10,000ft before turning around and landing again in Berlin at 8.26am, flight trackers show.
The aircraft was met by airport firefighters and the approximately 150 passengers and crew on board the Airbus A319 were evacuated and taken back to the terminal.
Britons on board have complained of being “stranded” without information, with one passenger saying many were turned back through passport control.
The flight returned to Berlin airport minutes after takeoff.
Gareth Davies, from Wigan, told The Independent: ‘Within minutes of the flight, the captain came over and said we had to return to Berlin because of a warning light flashing on the controls.
“When we landed we sat there for a while and a burning smell came into the cabin,” he said.
He added that passengers were told not to worry about firefighters on the ground and to take their luggage with them.
They were then taken by bus to the terminal, where, he said, there was no one available except passport control staff.
“We weren’t told what would happen next, so we all went through passport control,” he said.
“People had no idea they were carrying checked luggage and many walked out of the baggage claim; I only had carry-on luggage.”
Flight EW8470 took off at 8.09am and climbed to 10,000ft before turning around and landing back in Berlin at 8.26am, flight trackers show.
Writing on X, he said there was a Eurowings representative to meet passengers on the plane and the airline “literally threw us all back to the airport without any communication whatsoever”.
Mr Davies also wrote on X that a flight attendant had told him not to take photos or videos because they did not want “bad press on social media”.
Eurowings said passengers and crew were not in danger “at any time” during the incident.
Also he said German media that from now on passengers will be relocated to alternative flights.
The airline said in a statement: ‘Flight EW8470 made an unscheduled return to Berlin this morning due to an undefined odour in the cabin.
“The plane was subsequently inspected without finding anything, so the flight will be delayed and all passengers have already been informed by SMS.”
