Packed Thomas Cook holiday jet makes emergency landing as smoke fills cabin
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A packed holiday jet that took off from Manchester bound for Tunisia had to make an emergency landing at Gatwick Airport after smoke filled the cabin over France.
The mid-air drama happened just as the Thomas Cook flight entered French air space last night.
According to the Manchester Evening News, the fumes had come from a malfunctioning chiller unit in the galley of the Boeing 767 300.
The captain was swiftly informed, and decided to turn back and make an emergency landing at Gatwick.
None of the 326 passengers on board were harmed in the incident.
A spokesman for Thomas Cook confirmed the emergency landing - which meant that the aircraft landed as normal but emergency services were on alert - and that it had returned to Gatwick "as a precaution".
The spokesman told menmedia.co.uk: "Following a minor problem with an on board chiller unit, we brought the Manchester to Enfidha (Tunisia) flight into Gatwick to be fixed and tested and we are pleased that our holidaymakers are now on their way to Tunisia. We'd like to thank our passengers for their patience and understanding."
He added: "The safety of our passengers and crew is paramount and the situation was handled without problems."
Just days ago, an air hostess on another packed holiday plane caused panic when she lost her cool as smoke began pouring into the cabin from the cockpit.
The Malmo Aviation flight from Sitrup, Sweden, bound for Mallorca, suffered a defective TV screen - something that head of Malmo Aviation Johan Westin said would not have caused a serious problem - that had passengers praying for their lives.
One passenger said: "When the plane eventually landed safely in Mallorca, flight staff still did not explain to the passengers what had happened, but sat on a bench and cried."
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