Passengers were forced to exit Ryanair flight FR-1402 and return to the terminal at Cork airport while the clean-up operation took place.
The aircraft was preparing to depart for the Canary Island shortly after 1pm yesterday (August 1), when a technical issue was reported by crew.
According to The Mirror, passengers reported smelling fuel in the cabin - while another traveller witnessed seeing a “large amount” of fuel spilled on the ground underneath the aircraft’s left wing.
The passenger told the newspaper: “We were on the plane and everything was normal.
"People were still boarding and putting their bags in the overhead lockers. I smelled what I thought was kerosene but thought nothing of it for a while.
"One of my kids then said she was getting an awful smell.
“I looked out the wind on our side but saw nothing.
"I moved over to the other side of the plane and saw fire crews under the left wing.
"There was a big fuel leak on the ground.
“I went back to my seat and called the steward to tell him but he said it would be alright.
"About five minutes later we were told we’d have to get off and return to the terminal.
“Someone said it might have been a faulty valve or something but we weren’t told anything officially but probably better safe than sorry to take us off again."
During the clean-up, passengers disembarked the Boeing 737 and were informed that their journey would not be continuing until 4.25pm.
Customers were provided with meal vouchers while they waited for their replacement aircraft – which eventually departed at 4.40pm.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: "This flight from Cork to Tenerife was delayed ahead of take-off due to a minor technical issue.
"Customers disembarked and were provided with refreshment vouchers, and to minimise delay, boarded a replacement aircraft, which departed to Tenerife.
"Ryanair sincerely apologised to all customers affected by this delay. Ryanair engineers have since repaired the fault and cleared the aircraft to return to service.”
