EasyJet plane surrounded by fire engines as passengers evacuated

An easyJet aircraft at Manchester Airport was surrounded by fire engines and its passengers were evacuated after the pilot reported a smell of fumes in the cockpit, local media reported. Flight EZY9143 was scheduled to depart Thursday, August 20 for Dalaman, Turkey at 5:30 p.m., but during pushback the pilot raised the alert. Airport emergency crews attended as a precaution; there was no fire reported. easyJet later said the Airbus A321 had a “technical issue” and could not operate as planned, so the flight was cancelled. The airline said passengers were disembarked normally, offered hotel accommodation overnight, and were set to continue on a replacement aircraft on Friday, August 21. The airline said the response caused only minor brief delays to a small number of nearby flights, and a separate terminal fire alarm was believed unrelated.