To add to the chaos, the remaining cabin crew member began issuing instructions in Spanish. Which had to be translated for English-speaking travellers.
"If we weren't so frightened it would have been complete comedy."
Vueling, which is part of the International Airlines Group, was reportedly carrying passengers bumped from cancelled British Airways service.
All, passengers were transferred onto a new service, three hours later, with a fresh plane and a new captain.
The airline confirmed that the earlier service had been delayed after an aircraft fire.
"On 21 July 2022, a small fire was detected flight VY8754 scheduled to depart from Barcelona to Birmingham at 11.55. The security protocols were initiated immediately and all passengers and crew were quickly disembarked from the aircraft"
Must a captain go down with his ship?
It's an old maritime cliché that the captain must remain on a sinking ship. Thankfully this is no longer the case. They are, however, expected to help evacuate their aircraft.
According to the Airbus safety manual the captain is in charge of crew and passenger evacuation and there are no circumstances when the first officer should leave passengers or crew behind.
"The captain should be the last crew member to evacuate the cockpit and the last
one to evacuate the aircraft after a final check that all aircraft occupants have
evacuated," reads the 2020 Safety First manual.