A COUPLE from Oswaldtwistle said they had been left traumatised after the cabin of their plane filled with what appeared to be smoke on their flight home from a holiday in Bulgaria.

Peter Green, 56, and his 50-year-old wife Christine have launched an official complaint following the incident on a Manchester bound plane.

Mr Green said that soon after their delayed flight took off, the cabin filled with what appeared to be smoke and the pilot turned back to Burgas.

BH Air, which operated the flight, said at no point was the sefety of passengers or crew compromised and it carries out regular maintanance on its fleet.

Mr Green said: “The cabin was filling full of white smoke, like a smoke machine, you couldn’t see anybody.

“All this thick smoke started to come from above us and then there was absolute total mayhem, people were pressing alarm bells.

“It got really bad, my wife started screaming and went into panic, she started to fit, and they had an ambulance waiting at the bottom of the runway for her.”

The couple, who live in Aspen Fold, are now demanding answers from the airline.

Mr Green said: “We’ve got another flight booked for Tenerife in October, but we don’t know if we’ll go.

“We don’t want compensation, we want answers.”

A spokesman from the airline, BH Air, said: “The safety of passengers is of paramount importance to BH Air and we pride ourselves on an exemplary record in this area of our operations.

“Our aircraft are subjected to rigorous checks prior to every flight and this is supplemented by additional daily, weekly and monthly checks in compliance with the recommendations of the manufacturer (Airbus).

“The conditions under which an aircraft can be dispatched are clearly stated in the handbook of the manufacturer and we would never compromise the safety of passengers and crew.

“Regrettably the delay on this occasion was caused by a technical problem. The aircraft of BH Air are maintained to the highest standards, but as with all airlines, unexpected technical problems do occur from time to time.

“In isolated instances when this happens, safety is always the number one priority. Nevertheless BH Air appreciates that this caused some inconvenience and we are sorry for this.

“Whilst on-time performance is important to BH Air, passenger safety has to come first. During the period in question, the other aircraft within the BH Air fleet were assigned to other duties so it was not feasible to locate an alternative sooner.”