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THE FLIGHT TO LIVERPOOL WAS FORCED TO LAND IN BORDEAUX DUE TO A MEDICAL EPISODE 16:50, 05 Jun 2025Updated 18:04, 05 Jun 2025 EasyJet passengers claim they were left in the dark after an

landing in France on their way back to Liverpool John Lennon Airport earlier this week. Michelle Rushton, from Garston, was flying back from Palma de Mallorca with her fiancé and two

children when a man suffered a medical episode while onboard the aircraft. She told the ECHO how the plane was forced to land in Bordeaux at around 12.30am on Wednesday, June 4, so

paramedics could board and assist the man. After he was taken off the flight, passengers were able to disembark after they were told there was not enough fuel for the flight to carry on to

Liverpool. Michelle, a communications officer, explained how when they disembarked from the flight, there was confusion as to where they should go until a woman appeared telling them they

could go to a hotel an hour away from the airport. The 51-year-old said: "A coach arrived at the airport but it only had room for 80 people when there were 150 of us needing to get to

the hotel. "We decided to get a taxi to the hotel and got to this lovely golf resort hotel an hour away but the taxi cost us over £100. We were lucky we had enough money to do that

because others didn't and they just stayed at the airport. We got there at 6am and the manager told us we had a room for an hour. "We just ignored him and I think we went back down

at around 11am when we had had no communication from easyJet. We were told by the staff we had already missed one coach back to the hotel and we had no idea if another one was coming."

EasyJet told the ECHO they had apologised to Michelle for her experience and would reimburse her for her expenses. Article continues below Michelle said on Thursday there were taxi strikes,

making it extremely difficult to book a taxi or Uber back to the hotel, but as she first spoke to the ECHO from the hotel, a second coach arrived to take the stranded passengers back to the

airport where they were hopeful of catching the 6pm flight back to Liverpool. Due to the delays, Michelle's 16-year-old son Daniel has missed one of his maths GCSE exams, with the

couple taking the decision to go on holiday during exam season due to Daniel's dad's terminal cancer diagnosis. Mike Lauchlan, aged 58 and a maintenance officer, was given the

diagnosis after having already beaten cancer once before. Following a scan at the end of last year, he was told cancer had returned but doctors could not find it. After slipping on ice while

walking the family dog at the beginning the year, he had persistent pain in his neck before Michelle urged him to go see his doctor. In March this year, he was told he had terminal cancer

of the spine and has since been undergoing chemo and radiotherapy which has shrunk the cancer. But what was meant to be a time for "creating memories", Michelle said, had been a

disaster, as the family claimed they spent almost 24 hours not knowing what was going on while in France. When they got to the airport, Michelle explained how people had slept there after

being unable to afford travel and accommodation at the last minute. Michelle and her family themselves claimed to have not eaten a proper meal until they returned to the airport. When the

plane was initially diverted, Michelle said: "We just hoped the man was okay, we weren't bothered about the emergency landing", but said she felt easyJet had left them

"in the lurch" without communicating with them. She added: "We took the kids out of school for this because family memories are more important to us." Michelle went on to

tell the ECHO how their eventual plane home was delayed before they were able to board at around 8pm after being given a food voucher while in the airport from the airline. She claimed some

families were forced to reuse nappies due to the lack of supplies they had available to them at the airport. An easyJet spokesperson said: "Ms Rushden’s flight from Palma to Liverpool

on 3 June diverted to Bordeaux and was delayed overnight due to a customer onboard requiring urgent medical assistance, which led to the crew reaching their safety regulated operating hours.

“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority. We did all we could to minimise the impact of the diversion and sourced hotel accommodation, meals and

transport for most customers including Ms Rushden and kept customers informed throughout via SMS and our Flight Tracker with updates, including their new flight time and coach transfer pick

up times. Article continues below “As there was unfortunately limited hotel availability in the area, we also advised customers who made their own arrangements that that they will be

reimbursed. As some customers remained in the airport, our team worked to make them as comfortable as possible and provided refreshments. "While this was outside of our control, we are

very sorry for the inconvenience caused and have been in touch with Ms Rushden to apologise for her experience and reimburse her expenses.”