Ryanair Boeing 737 evacuated after fire onboard; 18 injured

18 Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) (OTCPK:RYAOF) passengers were injured after a minor fire aboard a Boeing (NYSE:BA) 737-800 aircraft owned by the Irish airline led to a chaotic evacuation at the Palma airport in Majorca, Spain, in the early hours on Saturday.

The incident took place shortly after midnight, when the Ryanair (RYAAF) (OTCPK:RYAOF) aircraft bound for Manchester was still grounded at Palma de Mallorca Airport before its scheduled departure.

Emergency crews responded after the cabin crew alerted them about a fire onboard the plane. While most passengers followed conventional evacuation procedures, 18 others suffered minor injuries as they climbed onto the aircraft’s wing and jumped out in panic.

A regional government-run emergency response coordination center confirmed the incident. “We received an alert about a fire on a plane on the ground at Palma airport at 12.36 am today,” Metro.co.uk reported, quoting a spokesman for the agency. ‘Eighteen people were injured and received medical assistance, of whom six were taken to hospital.”

In a statement, Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) (OTCPK:RYAOF) blamed a false fire warning light indication for the incident. “This flight from Palma to Manchester, on July 4, discontinued takeoff due to a false fire warning light indication,” a spokesperson for the airline said.

‘To minimize disruption to passengers, we quickly arranged a replacement aircraft to operate this flight, which departed Palma at 7.05 am this morning.” The exact origin and nature of the fire remain undisclosed.

“We sincerely apologize to affected passengers for any inconvenience caused,” the spokesperson added.