Terrifying Video Shows Passengers Scream As They Thought They Were Going To Die As Turkish Airlines Jet 'Free-Falls' During Three Failed Landing Attempts In Tunisia Storm

Terrified holidaymakers feared they were plunging to their deaths after a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul was forced to abort landing three times in a violent storm.

Dramatic footage filmed inside the cabin shows the aircraft dropping suddenly as it circled Tunis-Carthage Airport, with engines roaring and passengers gripping their seats.

The woman filming, her voice shaking, tells the camera the pilot tried to land three times, flying the plane back into the storm again and again before finally diverting.‘The pilot was trying to land at the same airport three times, he did three circles and went into the storm again and again,’ she says. ‘Here we started to fall down a few seconds like free-falling.’

The video, which has been widely shared, captures the in-flight map showing the jet looping over Tunisia as storm clouds loom outside the window. One passenger can be heard reacting as the plane hits another pocket of turbulence.

Flight TK663, operated by an Airbus A321, was approaching Tunis when severe weather made a safe landing impossible. After the repeated go-arounds the crew diverted to Enfidha-Hammamet Airport, where the aircraft landed safely.

Reports described scenes of panic on board as the jet was battered by the storm. Passengers said the plane felt like it was dropping out of the sky.

Turkish media reported the crew made three attempts to land at the original destination before the decision to divert. No injuries have been officially confirmed.

The footage has sparked thousands of comments from travellers who said they would have been terrified in the same situation. One viewer wrote that they would only start to worry if the cabin crew looked worried.

Aviation experts note that aborting a landing in poor weather is standard procedure. Pilots are trained to go around rather than force a landing in storm conditions.

The flight eventually touched down at the alternative airport, bringing an end to what passengers described as a nightmare approach.