Ryan Air plane loses cabin pressure

[Rhys Xanthis]

TWENTY-SIX people were taken to hospital after a Ryanair aircraft made an unscheduled landing in France following a loss of cabin pressure.

The plane landed at Limoges International Airport at 11.30pm (7.30am AEST) as a "safety precaution", Ryanair said, adding the passengers suffered ear problems.

The Boeing 737 was flying to Barcelona-Girona airport in Spain from the southwestern British city of Bristol, when a brutal depressurisation forced the aircraft to descend 8000m in five minutes, police said.

Terrified passengers told how they had feared for their lives as the aircraft plummeted and oxygen masks dropped down.

Of the 168 passengers and seven crew, 26 were taken to hospital with minor eardrum problems, emergency workers said.

An initial inspection of the plane did reveal any causes for the depressurisation, police said.

Ryanair dispatched another aircraft to Limoges, which departed at 3.30am with 127 people who wished to immediately continue their journey.

The remaining passengers were expected to continue on to Girona later today.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/...014090,00.html

And news.com.au cant resist, by placing an unrelated QF delay just beneath the RyanAir story...