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Taken August 2001 from Paris CDG to Dublin

Our flight was in two stages, from Bilboa (Spain) to Paris (Charles De Gaulle) with Air France Brit Air (29/8/01). We were then to fly with Air France/CityJet to Dublin.

Boarding in Paris was delayed by 20 minutes. Once on the aircraft the pilot announced there had been problems with the previous flight and we had to switch to another aircraft - another BAE 147-200.

Twenty minutes into the flight and the pilot announced that we would have to return to Charles De Gaulle due to a 'technical fault'. At this stage I (and most of the other passengers) were quite frightened. The pilot elaborated some more and it transpired a warning light in the cockpit indicated a problem with the deployment of the flaps on the left wing. The plane returned in the direction of Paris but circled for about twenty minutes as the pilot carried out further tests on the flaps. We landed without incident and were initially told we would be put into another plane. Then we were told they were going to fix the problem and send us up in the same plane. Finally, after more delays were moved to another aircraft of the same type.

We arrived in Dublin at 11.30 - about four hours later. I would be extremely reluctant to fly in a CityJet BA-146 again. They look old, some of the passenger lights were not working and I noticed bits of insulation tape sticking something together above my head. This is in stark contrast to Air France/Brit Air who operate a fleet of new and extremely comfortable Canadair RJ aircraft. Upgrade your fleet CityJet!