French passengers aboard an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Paris became distraught when a French-language announcement informed them to prepare for an emergency landing.
The announcement was an error and followed immediately after an English announcement 20 minutes into the flight, that warned passengers to return to their seats because of turbulence.
An Irish passenger who was seated next to a dozing French passenger who awoke with a start explains:
He translated what had been said to me. The message, he said, was that we should prepare for an emergency landing, note where the emergency exits were and await instructions from the captain.
As there was turbulence as well I got quite alarmed. The woman behind me was crying. All the French freaked out.
After a few minutes the cabin crew realized the error and apologized for playing the wrong announcement.
According to an airline spokeswoman, mistake was the result of a public address system malfunction.
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