A pregnant woman is said to have collapsed as hundreds of passengers waited on a plane for nearly eight hours amid chaotic scenes at Manchester Airport.

A breakdown on a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong earlier this month left two other aircraft stuck on the taxiway behind it.

The ripple effect meant that a Brussels Airlines flight to Brussels and a TUI flight to Cape Verde were both waiting behind.

Cathay Pacific later issued an apology and confirmed that the affected aircraft was being inspected by engineers.

A pregnant woman is said to have collapsed as hundreds of passengers waited on a plane for nearly eight hours amid chaotic scenes at Manchester Airport

The incident happened just days before thousands of passengers began traveling en masse to see loved ones over the Christmas period.

A passenger on the Brussels Airlines flight has told how customers sat in the taxiway for almost six hours due to the Cathay Pacific flight breakdown and received only free water.

The flight was due to take off around 12:30 p.m. on December 15 before becoming stuck.

The Cathay Pacific flight, bound for Hong Kong, developed an outage, meaning a Brussels Airlines flight to Brussels and a TUI flight to Cabo Verde were both waiting behind it

The plane was finally towed to the terminal shortly before 6 p.m., with passengers given the option of remaining on board or disembarking and finding alternate transportation.

Manchester Airport has since said ‘all necessary procedures’ have been carried out to ensure passenger safety.

Chris Brereton, who was heading to Belgium, said a pregnant woman had ‘collapsed’ and told how passengers grew increasingly frustrated as they sat beside the runway for long hours.

He opted to stay on the flight to enjoy his vacation in Bruges, with the plane finally taking off for Brussels just after 8 p.m. This meant the flight was almost eight hours late.

Mr Brereton said: ‘The poor pregnant woman collapsed and two people on board stepped in to help her.

“This was after hours of sitting on the tarmac behind the broken plane.

“The captain kept saying ‘they’ll be picking you up soon’ but that never happened. The lady then collapsed at the front of the plane and thank God there was on board trained people who knew what they were doing.

“It’s an incredible credit to everyone on board that he remained so calm and civilized, because he could easily have started.”

Brussels Airlines has confirmed that a pregnant woman needed medical assistance on board after the flight was blocked.

Chris Brereton, who was heading to Belgium, said a pregnant woman had “collapsed” and told how passengers grew increasingly frustrated as they sat on the runway for hours.

They added that the plane could not be towed to the terminal due to “safety regulations”.

A Brussels Airlines spokesperson said: “As previously mentioned, a Cathay Pacific aircraft was blocking the runway due to technical issues, which meant that our OOSND aircraft (flight SN2174) was also blocked for several hours on the runway. from Manchester.

“Due to UK safety regulations it was not possible to be towed to the terminal.

“Despite the difficult situation, we have done our best to find solutions for all our passengers.

“Passengers with connecting flights have been booked onto other flights. Only those with Brussels as their final destination left with our own flight to Brussels in the evening.

“We mentioned earlier that passengers eventually disembarked and were brought to the terminal by buses.

“That indeed did not happen as the steps arrived shortly before the Cathay Pacific aircraft cleared the runway and our aircraft was able to return to the ground.

“The plane – with an initial delay in Manchester – was due to take off around 12.30pm and return to the stand around 5.50pm.

“The plane was finally pushed back around 8 p.m. – after disembarking all passengers and baggage with connecting flights, disembarking passengers who no longer wished to travel that day, refueling and de-icing – for take-off to Brussels .

“There was indeed a pregnant passenger on board who needed medical assistance.

“Paramedics attended to her on board and later in the ambulance parked in front of the plane.”

A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: ‘We regret any disruption to passengers as a result of this incident, caused by a technical issue with a Cathay Pacific aircraft.

“The safety of everyone at our site is a top priority and all necessary procedures have been followed to ensure the safety of passengers, aircraft and surrounding airfield operations.

“This meant that those on board the affected aircraft faced delays as designated ground agents from the affected airlines ensured that they could safely deploy the necessary equipment to the airfield to resolve the problem.”