No-Good Champagne Cork Diverts Flight

classic champagne bottle with popping cork background

Bubble trouble: a cork from a champagne bottle caused the diversion and emergency landing of an easyJet flight to Turkey last month.

A Turkey-bound easyJet flight from London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW) was diverted last month after a cork ejected from a champagne bottle caused damage to the plane’s ceiling. According to a report released this week, U2 8845 was halfway to Dalaman Airport (DLM) on August 7 when a member of the cabin crew opened a bottle of champagne for passengers at the rear of the Airbus A320. Once popped, the cork smashed into the plane’s ceiling panels with so much force that the oxygen masks were released.

The A320 was forced to land at Milan-Malpensa Airport (MXP) for repairs and to reset the cabin’s oxygen masks.

EasyJet confirmed the incident in a statement to the MailOnline, explaining: “Flight EZY8845 from London Gatwick to Dalaman on 7 August diverted to Milan Malpensa as a precautionary measure due to a technical issue with the cabin crew oxygen masks. In line with safety procedures the captain took the correct decision to divert so that the cabin crew oxygen masks could be reset. ”

Speaking of the incident and subsequent diversion to the Telegraph, one unnamed passenger said, “It wasn’t very funny at the time but I can see the lighter side now. All that hassle, delay and money wasted by easyJet — all over a champagne cork!”

For those who question the damage that can be caused by a single champagne cork, Chris Matyszczyck of CNET writes: “A bottle of champagne contains 90 pounds per square inch of pressure, around three times more than your Subaru’s tires. Some believe that a cork can pop at speeds of 40 or even 60 mph. Some scientists believe it’s usually more like 24.8 mph.”

According to the budget U.K. carrier, the flight was able to resume just an hour after its unscheduled stop.

“The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority,” the airline said in a statement. “We would like to apologize for the delay and any inconvenience caused.”

[Photo: iStock]