Passengers' terror as Ryanair plane 'plunges hundreds of feet' during electrical storm

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Passengers were left terrified after a plane "plunged hundreds of feet" during an electrical storm over Britain.

Holidaymakers were left "vomiting and fainting" during the incident on board a Ryanair flight attempting to land at Stansted Airport.

One passenger was even described as being "strapped into his seat" to as the plane "repeatedly" pulled up in the sky, according to Daily Mail.

The flight from Ibiza was scheduled to land at Stansted at 11.30pm but ran into trouble moments after leaving the island.

Passenger Alex Rayner, a father-of-four, told The Sun he prayed to God to keep his children and family safe during the traumatic incident.

He said: "We kept plunging what seemed like a hundred feet and then went up again, we were being thrown about like a toy plane.

"One of the frightening things about the ordeal, which lasted five hours, was the engines repeatedly pushed to maximum throttle and would be screaming loudly before they edged back to a normal rate every time it hit an air pocket."

The 38-year-old added the plane circled Stansted for two hours before having to be diverted to East Midlands Airport, where many passengers "begged to be let off".

He told The Sun: "It was like being on the most terrifying roller coaster. By the end of it people were screaming every time there was a bolt of lightning."

The events company chief executive said it was like "something out of a horror movie" with lightning just "50 yards" away from the plane.

The plane eventually landed after an initial problem when it had to pull up just 200ft from the ground due to the storm.

Stansted Airport confirmed five planes were diverted away from the airport due to the storm, with four later returning.

A Ryanair spokesman told the MailOnline: "This flight from Ibiza to London Stansted (18 Jul) was unable to land at Stansted due to thunderstorms. The aircraft diverted to East Midlands, where it landed normally and returned to London Stansted once the weather improved. Ryanair sincerely apologised to all customers affected by this weather diversion, which was entirely beyond our control."