Two passengers have suffered burns from hot tea on separate Ryanair flights, raising concerns about the airline's safety procedures. Devon Buffoni, 31, received second-degree burns on a flight from Bordeaux to London Stansted in September 2023, while Susan Martin, 69, was scalded on a flight to Malta.
Devon Buffoni, a 31-year-old tax adviser from Upminster, was travelling with her partner and their 11-month-old baby on a Ryanair flight from Bordeaux to London Stansted on 30 September 2023 when hot tea spilled on her lap, causing second-degree burns. According to multiple media reports, Ryanair settled her claim for £4,000 without admitting liability. Buffoni's baby was on her lap at the time of the incident, which she described as sudden and shocking.
It said to order drinks on the app so my husband ordered us a coffee and a tea and they brought the drink out. I had tea so it was just hot water with a teabag in it. It was a large cup. They put it on the drink tray and whether I knocked the tray or whether the steam popped the lid off, we don't really know what happened, it just all happened so quickly. It [the hot water] was all over my lap and I was screaming.
Buffoni alleged that the in-flight tray table was not fit for purpose, causing the cup to slide and spill. According to Daily Mirror - Main, Buffoni described how the tea lid came off and boiling water poured over her lap, and she screamed, which set off her baby. She claimed that cabin crew were ill-equipped with basic medical knowledge and tardy in responding. According to Daily Mirror - Main, Buffoni said she was initially given only one bottle of water to pour over the burns, and no one moved the trolley from the aisle to allow her to get medical attention. She also claimed that the flight did not have large burn patches in first-aid boxes, only a small patch at the front of the plane.
Buffoni's legal representatives, Hudgell Solicitors, argued that the crew's failings exacerbated the severity of the burns. According to Daily Mirror - Main, Buffoni reported the incident to Ryanair, but the airline alleged that she had knocked the tea into her own lap. Buffoni said that Ryanair took a long time to respond and that there were inconsistencies in their account, which led her to seek legal help.
I knew it was serious at this point. I started hyperventilating and I was in a lot of pain immediately. I was in shock as it was scalding water. The water came straight out of the water vessel at the back of the plane. They took me into the hold at the back. I took my trousers off and they were pouring cold water on me. She got the first aid box out and put gel packs and cream on me and kept changing them as they were getting warm really quickly. My legs had already started to blister. I was in shock and I was shaking.
In a separate incident, Susan Martin, a 69-year-old grandmother-of-10 from Weymouth, Dorset, was on a Ryanair flight to Malta when hot tea spilled on her lap. According to Daily Mail - Home, Martin described how the tea lid popped off, spilling boiling water over her lap, and she was unsure whether she knocked the tray or the steam caused the lid to come off. She claimed that the tea was made with boiling water from the back of the plane because there was no drinks trolley on board. Martin said she sat in the crew area for the remainder of the three-hour flight while staff applied gel packs and iced water, changing them frequently as they warmed up. She went to hospital in Malta and spent the rest of her holiday there, receiving IV antibiotics and daily bandage changes. After returning to the UK, she had check-up and dressing appointments for six weeks.
The two passengers reported very different levels of care from Ryanair crew. Buffoni described the crew as ill-equipped and tardy, while Martin said the crew applied gel packs and iced water and took her to the crew area. This suggests inconsistency in training or procedures. The cause of the spills also differs: Buffoni claimed the tray table was not fit for purpose, while Martin was unsure whether she knocked the tray or the steam popped the lid off. Both incidents involved hot tea served on a tray.
I got second degree burns on my right upper thigh and lower abdomen and first degree burns to the left of the thigh and genital area. On the flight home they had a drinks trolley. My husband noticed that when they were putting the cups on the tray, they were telling people to be careful with the lids on the cups. They didn't tell us this on the way out. I think the water was too hot as it was scalding hot. It shouldn't have been that hot. It was an unfortunate accident.
Unanswered questions remain about Ryanair's safety measures. It is unclear what specific measures the airline has implemented to prevent similar incidents, how many similar burn incidents have been reported, and what the standard temperature is for hot water used in tea on Ryanair flights. The outcome of Susan Martin's claim against Ryanair has not been disclosed. Ryanair has not publicly commented on the incidents or any changes to its procedures.