A Thomas Cook passenger jet carrying 237 passengers was forced to return to Gatwick halfway through its flight after the emergency slide used to disembark in times of crisis fell off. The flight TCX1638 had left Gatwick airport at 9AM was forced to turn back after a short time into its flight to Egypt. The slide was believed to have fell off between east Sussex and Kent but was not noticed and reported by the pilots until they were over Belgium. No one was injured in the incident after which the airline returned safely to the East Sussex.
The passengers were accommodated on another flight later in the afternoon. Investigators have moved to locate the missing emergency slide. They are reported to be on the border between Kent and Sussex. They have not yet identified the missing equipment and are calling on anyone with information to contact 101. Kent police however, said they were called by residents of Groom Bridge that they had spotted a falling object. Gatwick airport spokesman has confirmed he occurrence of the incident saying the plane had come due to some issues it had.
The AAIB confirmed that they have deployed a team at London’s Gatwick airport to investigate the incident. Thomas cook has come under sharp criticism from passengers who have claimed it has been having a lot of delays occasioned by the lack of proper maintenance of their aircrafts. Thomas cook airline says this is an isolated case and should not be used for blanket condemnation on all its other aircraft. It says it remains to be one of the airlines with the highest safety records to date.
The airline apologised for the delays and confusion and booked the passengers on another flight.