TUI passengers offered counselling after traumatic landing of Boeing 737

After weather conditions at Manchester Airport (MAN) forced the pilot of a TUI flight to abort a landing, passengers have been offered counselling by the travel operator.

Those onboard the flight travelling from Tenerife South (TFS) to Manchester on March 9, 2023, were reportedly “screaming and crying” as the Boeing 737 began to descend.

Atrocious weather at the time in the UK had covered much of the country with snow, while high winds were causing issues at many airports.

According to Birmingham Live, passenger Gareth Salter was “saying his prayers” while the plane was buffeted by strong winds and the pilot tried to land.

“People were panicking, babies were screaming, women were crying. There were some young girls behind us in floods of tears,” Salter recalled. “I was saying my prayers, to be honest. I didn’t think I’d see my family again. It was just awful.”

The decision was made to divert the flight to East Midlands Airport due to the weather conditions at Manchester and the plane finally landed shortly before 8:30pm.

“We can confirm that TOM2477 from Tenerife to Manchester Airport on March 9 diverted to East Midlands Airport, due to adverse weather conditions during the approach back to Manchester,” TUI confirmed in a statement.

TUI also emailed passengers following the flight with an offer of free counselling from the Centre for Crisis Psychology.

It said in the email: “We would like to assure customers that instances of this nature are rare.”