LANZAROTE – A British multi-national airline requested passengers to get off the plane voluntarily due to the fact that it was carrying too much weight.
Passengers onboard an EasyJet flight were told by the captain on July 5th that it was “too heavy to take off”, requesting travelers to leave the plane following which 19 passengers took another flight and left the plane.
The passengers were to head to Liverpool from Lanzarote and the flight EZY3364 was scheduled to take off at around 9.45 pm but it was delayed due to bad weather and the aircraft’s weight.
“That heavy aircraft combined with a fairly short runway here in Lanzarote, and some winds which aren’t completely favourable at the moment, mean that with the current environmental conditions here in Lanzarote, the aircraft is too heavy at the moment to depart,” the captain said.
“There are a number of factors – it’s very hot, the wind isn’t fantastic, the direction isn’t great. Now, you might be wondering what happens next and that’s what I’ve come in here to say. I have spoken with our operations team and the one way to solve a problem with a heavy aircraft is to make it slightly lighter,” he added.
“If possible, I would like to ask for up to, potentially, 20 volunteers to choose not to fly to Liverpool tonight. If anyone does want to do that, if anybody does want to volunteer, there will, of course, be an incentive for you to do that, and that is something we’ll be able to let you know about,” he said.
The pilot then wanted people to volunteer to avoid flying on the plane. To compensate, it was announced that the airline would provide incentives of up to 500 euros to each passenger for offloading; following the announcement, passengers left the plane and took another flight.
An EasyJet spokesperson told a leading daily that this is a routine operational decision and weight restrictions are in place for all airlines for safety reasons.
