Pilot asks passengers on easyJet flight to vote whether to fly with 50:50 chance of engine working

Passengers on an easyJet flight to Bristol were shocked to hear their pilot ask them to vote whether they should stay on board or not – as there was only a ''50/50'' chance that both engines would work.

The holiday makers were held on the tarmac at Malaga airport in Spain when the announcement was made.

The pilot, who was not named, told passengers that there was a high chance that only one of the engines would be working.

With the flight already delayed 40 hours at this point, one of the passengers was so traumatised he threw up.

The passengers were meant to fly to Bristol on 8 June but finally boarded on 10 June, which was when the pilot said he could not start one of the engines.

The passengers decided not to fly and returned on a replacement aircraft on Saturday.

A spokesman for easyJet said, "EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY9958 from Malaga to Bristol on June 8 has been delayed overnight due to a technical issue.

"Passengers have been provided with meal vouchers, hotel accommodation and regulated updates.

"Our engineering team worked hard to try and get passengers to get to their destination as soon as possible and originally planned for a departure on June 10.

Meanwhile, easyJet denied reports that said the pilot apparently asked for a show of hands about whether they should take off.

Some 130 passengers were due to fly with easyJet from Malaga to Bristol Airport on Thursday evening but they only arrived home last night after spending two nights in emergency hotels. One of the hotels was so dirty some slept in their clothes as they did not want to get into the bed.

Many passengers complained of not receiving the required number of food vouchers to spend in the airport during their 40-hour delay.

Apologising to the passengers, easyJet thanked them for their patience.