Passengers with Ryanair have long been accustomed to the airline cutting financial corners.
But when one party found ground crews applying sticky tape to a cockpit window, they feared the penny-pinching had gone too far.
Twenty minutes after take-off, the service from Stansted airport to Riga in Latvia was forced to turn back when the patch came loose and started making a “loud” noise.
Ryanair has insisted safety was never at risk, but passengers said they were in fear of their lives.
Anthony Neal, 33, from Bromley, Kent, who was with a group of friends for his stag party, said: “They were taping up the front window as we were queueing to get on.
“One guy was up a ladder and another was hanging out of a side window of the cockpit.
“About 20 minutes into the flight the pilot came on the loudspeaker and said there was a problem with the windscreen - that it had been damaged on a previous flight and they’d have to turn back to Stansted. People were terrified.”
The Boeing 737-800 took off on the evening of September 29 with around 200 passengers. A replacement plane was found after two hours .
The Irish Aviation Authority has investigated the incident and said the tape was used to provide protection to sealant on a new window, adding: “At no time was passenger safety threatened.” - Daily Mail