Cassidy, who had been in Manchester with his sister Martine for a funeral, said: “We knew there was a storm, but everything seemed to be going quite smoothly before we began descending into Dublin. That was when things got ropey.
“We were being tossed left and right and up and down, and we could see other planes in the airspace going in similar patterns – we were just going round and round in circles. Below us, we could see the Irish Sea getting torn up, it was really choppy.”
Documenting the ordeal on social media, Cassidy, a 56-year-old filmmaker from Dublin, compared the descent to riding a “rodeo bull”.
“I haven’t had travel sickness since I was a little kid, and it all just came back. I was sitting there sweating and just feeling really, really bad.
“There was a lot of nervous tension,” he added. “We all wanted to be on the ground, but at the same time we wanted to be on the ground with wheels on the runway rather than any other way!”
When landing in the Irish capital proved impossible and was eventually aborted, passengers groaned as the pilot informed them that they would be returning to Manchester.
Before long, they were told there was no room left in Manchester and they were being diverted to the East Midlands, prompting even bigger groans.
But when they were eventually told that East Midlands was no longer an option and they were off to Paris, cheers erupted through the rows.
“Another announcement followed that none of the UK airports could take us, so we were going to Paris, and that actually got a cheer,” Cassidy said. “I think we all had wine and baguettes in mind.”
Once in France, passengers were given the option to disembark or stay on board for a second landing attempt into Dublin.
It was a difficult choice. For those who didn’t fancy another couple of hours being thrown around above the Irish Sea, the next available flight from Paris to Dublin would not be leaving until January 31.
“We were tossing the two evils back and forth a bit. No one wanted to be left stranded in Paris but also no one wanted to go back up in the air and face that again,” Cassidy said.
“The people I really felt sorry for were the parents with young kids. There was a couple with a small baby and they were running out of baby formula. So it was a bit of a nightmare for them. But all in all I think people took it quite well.”
‘Come on!’
All except three decided to try and return to Dublin, but the passengers braving the journey home were warned that if the second attempt to land failed they would be changing direction again – this time to Cologne, Germany.
As the lights of the Dublin docklands came into view, tension turned to hope as passengers to their likely exhausted pilot cried: “Come on!”
The biggest cheer of the day came when, after 11 distressing hours, Ryanair Flight FR555 finally touched down on Irish soil.
Cassidy and his sister arrived home just after 2am on Monday, more than 12 hours after they originally thought they would be arriving in Dublin.
Those on board Flight FR633 from Copenhagen to Dublin on Sunday, however, might consider Cassidy and his fellow passengers lucky.
That plane was diverted from Dublin to Manchester, and after spending four hours grounded there, passengers endured a further three hours circling Dublin as the pilot attempted to land.
It eventually landed at Liverpool, just 50km away from where the plane had initially touched down.
Another Ryanair flight that was scheduled to make the short half-hour trip across the Irish Sea from Manchester to Dublin ended up making a three-hour detour circling Dublin, Belfast and then ultimately ending up back in Manchester having not reached its destination.
In another particularly stark detour, a Ryanair flight from Shannon in Ireland to Edinburgh just before midnight on Sunday unsuccessfully tried to land twice before diverting almost 900km away to Cologne.
Air traffic control restrictions lasting into Monday have meant that many more short-haul flights have been cancelled or diverted, especially at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports.
A rare red warning for wind in north-east Scotland was in place , with amber warnings covering much of the UK and further yellow warnings covering the entire country.
A further yellow warning for wind for Scotland, Northern Ireland, North Wales and northern England is active today and tomorrow. .
National Air Traffic Services said: “Due to adverse weather conditions across the UK, temporary air traffic restrictions are in place. Restrictions of this sort are only ever applied to maintain safety.
“Our teams are working closely with airports and airlines to minimise disruption. Passengers should check the status of their flight with their airline.”
