Passenger sends farewell text to wife as plane nosedives towards ocean

An airline passenger, convinced he was going to die, has sent his wife what he thought was his final text message as his plane began to plummet into the sea.

Tom Miller was on a flight on Sunday from Ibiza to Leeds with 14 friends from a stag weekend when, according to Yorkshire Evening Post, the plane went into a nosedive towards the Mediterranean Sea.

Mr Miller said about 30 minutes into the flight the pilot shouted the plane was in an “emergency descent” and attendants leapt into action.

"They had the snack trolleys out and the seat belt lights were off, but the staff ran flat out to put them back,” he said.

"Then the emergency masks dropped down and the plane started diving down in at least a 40-50 degrees dive.”

Mr Miller said some of his friends were sat by the window and had looks that just said, “this is how it ends.”

With the 39-year-old accepting his fate, as it felt like he was “falling out of the sky”, he sent a final text message to his wife.

“I love you babe,” the message read.

However, as the plane continued to descend the pilot managed to level it at a safe altitude and diverted the flight to Barcelona airport.

Mr Miller said the captain explained there was a drop in cabin pressure and the plane had to get to a lower altitude.

While he said he felt “sheer relief” after landing, Mr Miller believes the most difficult part of the ordeal was saying goodbye to his wife.

"It's hard but when you think about it afterwards, it's sending that text that chokes me up,” he said.

"It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do."

He said he wasn’t sure when he’d next catch a flight but was looking forward to a touring caravan holiday coming up.

Jet2, who operated the flight, has since apologised for the incident.