Some of the passengers on an Airbus A320 misunderstood the captain’s directive to “disembark … immediately” after being diverted to Cork Airport and — instead of exiting through the doors, as the captain intended — opened the emergency overwing exits and slid down the escape slides, according to a report by Ireland’s Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU).
The AAIU’s final report on the Nov. 2, 2017, incident, published Tuesday, said that the emergency evacuation resulted in no immediate injuries but that one passenger “became unwell” later and was taken to a hospital.
The diversion was prompted by fumes in the cockpit of the A320 during what was to have been the second roundtrip flight of the day between Cork and London Heathrow. The crew first noticed a burning smell as they flew the A320 through Flight Level 260 (approximately 26,000 ft). As the fumes became “stron…
