Flybe has apologised to passengers who endured a nightmare experience on a patient transfer service that was diverted due to fog.

Passengers set off from the island on the Monday morning to Liverpool expecting to be back home the same evening.

But bad weather meant the return flight could not land and it had to be diverted back to Liverpool, then Manchester and then Leeds Bradford where it finally landed.

But it was not the delay that angered the passengers - it was the way they say they were treated.

Tracy Stacey, aged 47, was travelling to Liverpool for a consultant appointment for elective care. She is also diabetic and has a mild heart condition, among other health issues.

She said: ’On the way back the plane was delayed due to fog. It was due to leave at 5.40pm but we didn’t board until 7pm and it didn’t leave until 9.30pm.

’We couldn’t land in the Isle of Man so we circled a few times before being diverted back to Liverpool. But we couldn’t land in Liverpool and then tried Manchester and couldn’t land there. We were nearly three hours in the air and ended up diverted to Leeds.’

They were then stuck in a hot plane waiting for the airport building to open, while another 20 diverted flights also landed. After an hour waiting on the apron - five hours in total since boarding the aircraft - the passengers finally got onto a bus and into the terminal. But their ordeal was far from over.

Tracy said: ’We were given no food or water. There were about 70 passengers on board all part of the patient transfer service. Some were elderly, one man had just had bone marrow removed.’

She added: ’It was a nightmare. Six of us were getting sicker by the minute. There was no water, medication or food. We were given a mouthful of water the entire time and a biscuit.’

Tracy said some of the passengers took control of the situation and rallied round to help get water.

She said: ’I had not eaten since 8am, I’d been up 24 hours by this point. Some people were struggling, trying to sleep on the floor. I was in a wheelchair and in a lot of pain.’

Medics were called and ambulances took some passengers to hospital while others were found hotels at 5am, only to be told to return to the airport for 8am for a flight that didn’t leave until 1pm.

Tracy was taken by ambulance to St James’ Hospital in Leeds. She was kept in overnight on the Tuesday and finally managed to fly back home from Manchester the following evening. ’When I finally got home I burst into tears,’ she said.

Christina Crozier was one of the passengers that took control of the situation along with Sarah Jayne Thomas and Kathy Dobson.

Christina was taking her daughter, who has several medical issues, on the patient transfer service.

She said: ’It was a nightmare. There was no water or food on the aircraft, they had three little bottles of water to share between 74 passengers. My daughter’s blood sugars went down, it was very serious.

’When we landed in Leeds there was no one there to help. I went to St James’ Hospital with my daughter. But we were told it was a nine hour wait to see a doctor.

’There were lots of incidents. One elderly man was sitting in a wheelchair all night as he couldn’t get a hotel. The lady who stayed with him was ill.

’I got a text from Flybe the next morning at 7am at the hospital telling us we had to make our own way back to the airport.

’There was just no co-ordination.

There are no out of hours numbers you can call.

’There is just no plan if anything goes wrong. People had no medication as we all expected to be home by teatime. The majority of the patients were elderly, some had had chemo.’

In a statement Flybe said it sincerely apologised to those passengers who were inconvenienced by the diversion of the Isle of Man to Liverpool flight to Leeds Bradford Airport on September 25.

It said the flight, operated by Stobart Air on behalf of Flybe, could not land at any alternative airport due to the rapidly spreading adverse weather conditions.

The statement reads: ’The decision to ultimately divert to Leeds Bradford was taken for safety reasons as a result of visibility falling below safe limits in both the Isle of Man and Liverpool while the aircraft was airborne.

’Hotel accommodation and onward travel arrangements were made for the passengers so they could complete their travel plans as quickly and conveniently as possible given the unfolding situation.

’However, the service received was not to the standard we would expect to provide in such a situation and we once again wholeheartedly apologise for the distress and inconvenience caused.’

But Tracy responded: ’That’s a pathetic apology. We are not blaming the fog. We were dumped at the airport and left to fend for ourselves.’