Pilot warns passengers on easyJet flight of 50/50 chance both engines were working

Passengers on an easyJet flight were left terrified after the pilot told them there was just a '50/50 chance' of both engines on the plane working.

The pilot, who has not been identified, told stunned holidaymakers there was a strong chance only one of the engines was working.

As the plane stood on the tarmac at Malaga airport in Spain, calling for a show of hands the pilot reportedly asked them to take a vote on whether they would like to remain on the flight or disembark.

The flight, which was bound for Bristol, had already been delayed for two days but the news of possible engine failure sent many of the passengers into a panic.

Passenger Terri Hill told Mail Online: "He said we could stay on the plane - we'd been on it waiting for an hour at this point and been in Malaga for two nights extra already - or he'd see if we would be allowed to get off again.

"At this point there was a bit of a mutiny on the plane, an awful lot of shouting and people crying, and demanding to get off. There were about 12 people who wanted to stay on, but the rest of us wanted to get off."

Alarmed by the situation one man on the flight vomited. Describing the panic he said: "The pilot himself said he'd never heard or done anything like this in 37 years of flying.

"He gave us the option, asked us what he should do. He asked for a show of hands. There were some who just wanted to try it, they wanted to get home. But most didn't.

"There were girls hyperventilating, lots of people were panicking.There were elderly people on there, and lots of children. The worst thing was we had to wait another hour or two before they would actually let us off the plane."

EasyJet said the pilot had been misunderstood and was merely asking passengers if they wanted to get off the plane while the issue was fixed.

A spokesman for easyJet said: "The pilot attempted to use one engine to start the other engine as is normal procedure. Because he was aware that the passengers had already been considerably delayed due to a technical problem the pilot asked the passengers if they would like to get off or remain on board whilst the engine start up sequence continued.

"It was then decided to fly the passengers back on a replacement aircraft. At no point did the pilot ask passengers, or would ever attempt, to fly the aircraft without both engines working correctly."