Passengers were in a ‘state of collapse’ after a mid air drama when smoke began to pour from the plane’s cockpit.

A full emergency was declared on the Aer Lingus flight from Birmingham Airport to Cork operated by Stobart Air, with 59 passengers and four crew on board, about 25 minutes before it was due to land.

Emergency services including fire engines and ambulances were on standby, but the plane thankfully managed to land safe and well.

Elderly rights campaigner, Paddy O’Brien, who was waiting for his son, Ronan, due to arrive on another flight around the same time, told the Irish Examiner that some people were terrified when they saw the emergency services arriving.

He said: “I feel the airport should have made announcements about which plane was involved in the emergency.

“This is my first experience ever of this kind, in an airport, and I wouldn’t want to experience it again. There were people here in a state of collapse, quite honestly.”

Passengers praised the flight crew for how they handled the crisis and some said they only realised something was wrong when they saw fire engines and ambulances on standby at the airfield just seconds before they landed.

Smoke was detected on the flight deck of the ATR 72 aircraft.

A Dublin Airport Authority, which is responsible for Cork Airport, DAA spokesman said the plane landed safely as scheduled at about 10.05 am on Wednesday with emergency services on stand-by.

“All passengers have safely disembarked the aircraft,” he said. “There are reports that there was smoke from the cockpit but I can’t confirm that.”

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