The flight landed on schedule at Dublin Airport without further incidents.
“I was in the back with my son,” said Fergal Oledisha of Dublin, who lives in Zurich and was on the plane. As far as he could remember, the pre-recorded message said: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is an emergency. Prepare for an emergency landing,” she told the Irish Times.
Fergal Oledisha’s son said he is interested in aviation and knows that an emergency landing means landing in water. He went on to say that there was little response to the ad, possibly because so many people were wearing headphones.
The passenger made eye contact with a woman who also heard the message. “I could see the devastation on her face,” he told The Irish Times. The flight attendants sat behind the curtains at both ends of the plane, and no one rushed outside to tell the passengers what to do, which he saw as a good sign.
O’Lidecha said a male passenger at the front of the plane went to the canopy and spoke to the cabin crew, and when he turned around, his body language showed he wasn’t panicking.
“Then a crew member made a statement that we should ignore the previous announcement. That was a huge relief. I can say it was about two minutes later.”
A spokeswoman for the airline said that during Aer Lingus flight EI343 from Zurich to Dublin, an incorrect pre-recorded advertisement was temporarily played on board.
