Melvin Frater and his wife Jacqueline

A BRITISH man has described his “frightening” ordeal after a Ryanair plane plummeted mid-air when the cabin lost pressure.

Melvin Frater and his wife Jacqueline, from Nottingham, were flying back from Milan to East Midlands Airport on the Boeing 737-800 when they heard a “bang” followed by a rush of cold air..

Ryanair said three people were taken to hospital for precautionary examination following the incident.

Describing the drama, Mr Frater said the captain could be heard over the speaker system saying they were making an emergency descent due to loss of cabin pressure and calling out “Mayday”.

“We were approximately 20 minutes into the flight when we felt and heard a bang, followed by a rush of very cold air, rushing by our feet from the front to the back of the plane,” Mr Frater told Sky News.

“This was immediately followed by the deployment of the oxygen masks and the plane began to make a rapid descent.

“The captain could then be heard over the speaker system - whether this was supposed to be heard by the passengers I do not know - but it was very unnerving to hear him say something like: ‘We are making an emergency descent due to loss of cabin pressure. Mayday!’.”

Mr Frater said the captain apologised and explained to passengers over the speaker system that the crews had followed the correct procedures to cope with sudden loss of pressure.

The plane was diverted to Frankfurt Hahn airport, where they were later transferred to a different plane and flown back to East Midlands Airport.

In a statement, the airline said: “Ryanair apologises sincerely to all passengers affected by this diversion and delay.”

Ryanair said the three people taken to hospital had ear pain concerns, but were released shortly afterwards.