As Storm Isha batters Ireland and the UK, a planeload of passengers have seen their plans massively thrown out.
Ryanair flight FR555 was due to take off from Manchester Airport on Sunday afternoon (local time), the Telegraph reports.
But a short hop to Dublin ended in a huge detour.
"We knew there was a storm, but everything seemed to be going quite smoothly before we began descending into Dublin. That was when things got ropey," passenger Declan Cassidy told the UK newspaper.
"We were being tossed left and right and up and down, and we could see other planes in the airspace going in similar patterns – we were just going round and round in circles. Below us, we could see the Irish Sea getting torn up, it was really choppy."
There were some white-knuckle flights into London as Storm Isha lashed the UK. (Source: Big Jet TV) (Source: Supplied)
Eventually, the landing had to be aborted. Disappointed passengers were told they'd be returning to Manchester.
And another spanner in the works followed. There was no room left at Manchester Airport and they'd have to divert to the East Midlands, leaving passengers facing a serious headache. But then, the pilot spoke into the intercom again.
"Another announcement followed that none of the UK airports could take us, so we were going to Paris, and that actually got a cheer," Cassidy said. "I think we all had wine and baguettes in mind."
In France, passengers could either disembark or stay on board for another attempt at landing in Dublin. All but three stayed on board, not least because the next available flight from Paris to Dublin wasn't set to leave until January 31.
"We were tossing the two evils back and forth a bit. No one wanted to be left stranded in Paris but also no one wanted to go back up in the air and face that again," Cassidy said. "But all in all I think people took it quite well."
The passengers were warned that, if they couldn't land in Dublin this time around, they'd be detoured to Cologne in Germany.
But at the second attempt, the group managed to touch down safely, albeit 11 hours after they departed.
The flight was closely followed by plane spotters across the UK.
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