Pilot Triggers Mayday Alarm As Smoke Fills Up Cockpit Of Plane Carrying 34 Students

An easyJet flight was forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday (Feb. 15) after smoke reportedly filled the cockpit.

EasyJet Flight U2-4592, which was travelling from Lisbon, Portugal to Paris, France had 141 passengers on board. Out of which, 34 were 12th-year students at Escola Secundária Dr. José Afonso, in Seixal.

When smoke was reported in the cockpit, the flight was diverted to the Spanish city of Bilbao. The incident unfolded approximately 60nm northwest of Bilbao, prompting the crew to wear oxygen masks before declaring a Mayday call. The flight landed safely on Bilbao's runway 12 around 20 minutes later.

While the aircraft with the smoke issue remained at the Bilbao Airport for nearly nine hours, the passengers were transferred to another Airbus A320-200 flight that reached Paris nearly five hours later than the scheduled time.

André Claro, the director of the Portuguese school, said that the students were travelling to Paris for a study visit as part of the History subject, according to reports in the local media.

"Everything went well. Everyone is calm and safe in Bilbao waiting for the flight that will take them to Paris. Almost no one noticed the situation and the pilot was very helpful", said André Claro.

Upon its landing in Bilbao, the easyJet flight was immediately met with emergency services, according to a statement from the English carrier.

"easyJet can confirm that flight EJU4592 from Lisbon to Paris Charles De Gaulle on 15 February was diverted to Bilbao due to a technical problem. The captain carried out a routine landing and emergency services received the plane as a routine and precautionary measure", read the statement.

Last week, another easyJet flight had to make an emergency landing in Manchester due to a technical issue. The police, emergency and fire services rushed to the airport when the easyJet flight from Alicante, Spain, was about to land. The flight was forced to make an emergency landing due to an issue with its on-board computer before landing, and there were concerns that the situation could turn serious. Luckily, nothing of that sort happened as the plane landed safely in Manchester and the passengers de-boarded as normal.

The airline industry has been experiencing quite a few safety-related issues these days. Just last week, it was revealed that an EasyJet flight from the UK, carrying over 150 passengers, nearly crashed into Lake Geneva. A fatal accident was avoided, all thanks to the quick actions of Swiss air traffic controllers who alerted the pilots about their dangerously descending altitude.