Ryanair passengers 'bang and shout for help' after being locked in corridor at Stansted Airport

Dozens of passengers missed their Ryanair flight as they were left locked in an airport corridor - only being released when they began shouting and banging on the walls to be let out.

The incident happened on Monday at London Stansted Airport when 23 passengers for a flight to Zagreb filed into a corridor after showing their boarding passes and passports at the gate.

But after the corridor was locked at both ends, they became concerned, allegedly banging on the walls and screaming for help, before setting off the fire alarm to be rescued.

But by that point the flight had already departed - with all the passengers' bags on board.

Ryanair said the issue was caused by a human error by handling staff.Devina Raval, 33, a passenger booked on the flight, said: "We showed our passes and passport then we were led down an escalator where I joined a queue in an L-shaped corridor.

"This was about half an hour before our flight was due to take off so we waited for 10-15 minutes before we started looking at each other thinking something was wrong."People were banging on the walls calling for help, it felt like we were being held hostage or something.

"There were kids crying and the whole place became really claustrophobic.

"I dread to think what would have happened if someone had a heart attack or something."

After around 30 minutes, someone pulled the fire alarm at which point a member of staff arrived and asked them what they were doing stuck in the corridor.Ms Raval said: "At that point I was just shocked that they hadn't realised we were there. We were told the plane had left without us.

"From there we were sent traipsing around the airport for three hours as we found out that all of our luggage had been sent to Zagreb without us.

"The worst part was that we didn't get so much as a sorry. Everyone was absolutely furious."The passengers were put in a nearby hotel overnight and put on the next flight at 6am on Tuesday.Ms Raval said one family were split in half, with half of them on the plane and half stuck in the corridor.A spokesperson for Ryanair said: "Due to a human error by handling staff at London Stansted Airport, a small number of passengers could not exit the pre-boarding area doors and regrettably missed their flight to Zagreb [on 2 January].

"The error was soon realised however the flight had already departed.

"Ryanair provided affected passengers with overnight accommodation and moved them on to the next available flight.”

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