A Ryanair flight was dramatically halted just seconds from take-off at Birmingham Airport due to a technical snag. Flight FR9378, scheduled to depart shortly before 1pm on Thursday (Nov 7), experienced an abrupt stop on the runway, causing concern among passengers.

One traveller, David Fern from Leicester, said: “It came to a stop. I saw the wing flaps retract, then the engines went quiet.”

He added: “The only thing they have told us is that a light came on in the cockpit, no other explanation. I knew something was wrong the way it came to a sudden stop and the engine noise cut out.”

Fern described the tense moments: “There was some delay and very little information provided. I just thought ‘do I need to run’? “Despite the scare, he maintained his composure: “I didn’t panic, I just thought maybe I need to get out. I didn’t see any smoke so thought it must be OK.”

Passengers were eventually informed of a switch to another aircraft. Ryanair addressed the incident, stating: “This flight from Birmingham to Seville (7 Nov) did not take-off as planned due to a minor technical issue with the aircraft. To minimise disruption to passengers, Ryanair arranged an alternative aircraft which has since departed for Seville at 15:43 local time.”