Palma de Mallorca, July 5, 2025 — A false fire alert on a Ryanair flight bound for Manchester led to a chaotic evacuation at Palma’s Son Sant Joan Airport early Saturday morning. While there was no fire, 18 passengers were injured during the evacuation, raising concerns about how effectively emergency protocols hold up under real-world stress.
The Incident: Warning Light Triggers Full Evacuation
At 00:36 local time, Ryanair flight FR8338, a Boeing 737-800, was preparing for departure when its cockpit fire-detection system activated. Following standard procedure, the crew initiated an emergency evacuation.
Firefighters, paramedics, and security personnel responded swiftly. But within moments of the alert, panic had taken hold inside the cabin. Multiple passengers used the over-wing emergency exits to climb onto the aircraft’s wings. Instead of following painted evacuation paths, many jumped directly to the tarmac from the wing.
Panic on the Wing: Injuries Despite No Fire
While Ryanair’s official statement noted only that passengers were disembarked using the aircraft’s inflatable slides, widely circulated video footage told a more chaotic story. Clips shared online showed passengers scrambling across the wings in darkness after using the over-wing exits, with several seen leaping directly to the tarmac. There are reports of others exiting the aircraft carrying hand luggage, in clear violation of safety protocols and crew instructions to leave all belongings behind.
In the clip, an airport worker can be heard saying: “Do you know the plane has emergency exits?” and “Now the people are jumping from the wing onto the ground.”
In total, 18 passengers sustained minor injuries—mostly sprains, bruises, and impact-related trauma. Six were hospitalized.
Ryanair later confirmed that the fire alert was a false alarm and that no smoke or flames were ever detected. A replacement aircraft departed Palma at around 07:05 CEST.
False Alarm, Real Consequences
This incident serves as a stark reminder that even a false alarm can have serious consequences when evacuation procedures break down in practice.
The Ryanair evacuation at Palma followed established protocol in response to a cockpit fire warning. But the way events unfolded, with passengers jumping from wings and acting without clear crew oversight, underscores a critical gap between procedural intent and real-world execution.
As the investigation continues, the focus is likely to extend beyond the false alarm itself to a broader, more pressing question: Are today’s emergency evacuation protocols designed for how passengers actually behave, or for how we hope they will?
Image: via social media
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