A Ryanair flight was forced to abort take-off at Birmingham Airport due to a technical issue. Flight Fr9378 to Seville was seconds away from leaving the runway when the brakes suddenly slammed on, according to a passenger who spoke to BirminghamLive.

The aircraft, which was due to depart just before 1pm on Thursday (Nov 7), then headed back to the gate. Passengers were told board to another Ryanair flight which left just before 3.45pm.

Passenger David Fern said: “It came to a stop. I saw the wing flaps retract, then the engines went quiet. 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. There was some delay and very little information provided. I just thought ‘do I need to run’? 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.” Mr Fern said they waited for information before being told they were “moving to another plane.”

Ryanair has issued a statement.

The airline said: “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.”