Leeds woman slams Jet2holidays ‘frightening’ lack of care after airport transfer bus bursts into flames

Shelly Thornton-Hodgson, 40, and her mum Sue, 65, were on their way back from a break in Palma when the fire broke out.

The pair were on a Jet2Holiday transfer bus returning to Palma Airport ahead of a late evening flight home to Leeds Bradford at the time.

Speaking to the YEP, Shelly detailed the moments before the incident and how there was a funny smell coming from the bus.

She said: "When the driver was changing gears, it sounded a bit rickety. Fast forward five minutes and he was going down a hill and it smelt a little like the brakes were burning. All of a sudden he couldn’t change gear.

"He stopped the bus on the side of a motorway and just shouted ‘FIRE’ so we all got off to see that the engine was smoking and there were sparks coming from the floor on the underside of the minibus.”

Shelly, Sue and the seven other terrified passengers were forced to jump down a steep ditch off the motorway to get away to safety.

The driver then ran back and started throwing cases out before the vehicle was engulfed by flames.

Shelly said: “We had to all scramble back up to run and get [the cases] before a few minutes later the full vehicle was on fire.

“Then the grass verge caught fire forcing us even further back. We were scrambling down the verge with cases in hand as the vehicle exploded.”

Shelly detailed how their hands were shaking as they lifted their luggage at Palma Airport check-in before settling on the flight back to Leeds Bradford with soot on their faces.

Despite their terrifying ordeal, Shelly reported that herself and other passengers have yet to receive any real form of contact from Jet2.

She said she was told that there was a 28-day process when she did lodge a formal complaint.

Shelly added: "I phoned them again this week and had quite a negative conversation on the phone.

"I think it’s frightening that they had nine passengers that were literally several minutes away from that bus being on fire while we were in it and yet we’ve still not received a call back.”

In a statement provided to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Jet2 confirmed that an immediate investigation had been launched into the incident.

A spokesperson said: “We work with partner suppliers to provide minibus transfers such as this, and we go through a detailed process with them to ensure that safety is their number one priority at all times.

"Regrettably, there were significant failings in communication from the supplier, meaning that we were not provided with the complete details of this isolated incident. Since learning about it, we have launched an immediate and urgent investigation with them.

“Upon receiving details about the incident, we made immediate contact with Ms Thornton-Hodgson, and we are in the process of contacting other customers who were on the transfer, to offer our sincere apologies and reassure them that we are taking this matter extremely seriously.”