Family treated 'like caged animals' as they tried to…

Family treated 'like caged animals' as they tried to get home from Turkey

A grieving mum said they were treated like "caged animals" after their flight was delayed by 46-hours.

Kelly Orford and her two sons, aged five and 10, jetted off to Antalya on October 14, weeks after losing her partner Henry Nagai. Henry, known as Henz, was found unconscious at his job as a security guard in the early hours of August 26.

Paramedics fought to save the 43-year-old but tragically he was pronounced dead at the scene. Being overcome by grief, Kelly was originally hesitant about the trip away, which had been paid for by her mum but thought it would be good for her young boys, the Manchester Evening News reports.

But when they arrived ready to fly home to Manchester on October 21, the nightmare began. The family were told there was hydrologic fluid leaking from the plane and new parts had to be ordered, so the family were put in a hotel 40-minutes from the airport.

But the next day, after boarding the plane they were told they would need to wait another two hours. Four hours later, the 40-year-old said they were still sitting on the runway without food or water and people were "collapsing" and "children being sick".

Passengers faced huge delays on their return flight home to Manchester (Kelly Orford)

A further four hours passed before they were told the flight had been cancelled and they were sent back to the hotel. Around 46-hours later, on October 23, the flight finally left for Manchester Airport, but Kelly has slammed the traumatising ordeal.

The IT consultant told the MEN: "It was traumatising. I’m so sad for everyone, but mainly my babies, as this was supposed to be a reliever from the worst time in their lives. Since we’ve been back, if someone asks my five-year-old how his holiday was, he doesn’t talk about the fun things. He talks about the plane disaster.

"My son has health anxiety since his daddy died, putting him back on a broken plane has traumatised him. Every time we were transferred, we had to go through arrivals and then security.

"I currently have four stamps on my passport because of the amount of time we had to travel in and out. Most people’s suitcases have also been snapped or broken, mine is completely broken, so no care given to our belongings either."

Mekhi, 10 and Kaian, five, on holiday (Kelly Orford)

Kelly said the experience made the worst time of their life "even worse". She added: "It’s turned my plane-loving boy into a nervous wreck.

"I now have a battle on my hands trying to convince him to get on a plane so he can see his dad’s resting place and family in Uganda in January. We were treated like caged animals."

A spokesperson for Jet2 said: "We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Ms Orford and her family, as well as all the other customers affected by the unforeseen delay, which was caused after the flight deck crew correctly followed standard procedure after noticing a minor fault indication.

"Although we understand the enormous inconvenience that this causes, we will never compromise on putting everyone’s comfort, safety and well-being first. We provided customers with hotel accommodation on both nights, and our teams worked tirelessly to look after everyone.

"We can confirm that a replacement aircraft flew out to Antalya on Sunday, October 23 and customers were flown home that same evening."

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