Passengers on a BMI Baby flight to Majorca narrowly escaped with their lives when the pilot spotted another jet on the runway when coming in to land at Palma Airport.
The pilot pulled up sharply with only a hundred feet to spare. 146 people were onboard the aircraft.
Some passengers did panic on the abrupt pulling up:
'It was terrifying,' one said last night. 'We were coming in to land with the wheels down when the plane suddenly jerked upward and soared back into the sky.
'I'd say we were just a few seconds from touching down when the pilot aborted the landing.'
'It was a bit of a shock. For a few seconds we didn't know what was happening,' he added.
'We were pinned back in our seats. I could see fuel tanks on the ground ... we were that close. Then it all calmed down and the pilot told us what had happened.
'We circled once and then made the landing. Everyone was pretty relieved to get their feet back on the ground.'
A spokesman for the company said:
'He pulled away, following standard operating procedures, and circled the airport briefly before making a safe landing.'
It's not known whether air traffic control warned the pilot about the plane on the runway or whether he acted on his own initiative.
