This is the terrifying moment a British Airways passenger started 'saying his last prayers' after the flight he was travelling on was seen tossing and turning from side-to-side in the air.

The plane had taken off from Heathrow Airport and was destined for Gibraltar but because of extreme winds it was forced to make a diversion and head to Malaga Airport on the Costa del Sol.

The footage was posted to Twitter and shows the aircraft being thrown from side-to-side, dipping and lifting by nearly 45 degrees.

Speaking to Sky News, Eli Hassett - who travels on the same flight every week - said: "We were tilting from one side of the plane to the other. The wings were tilting, it was a near-death experience - let me call it that.

"The captain, the pilot, she said to get ready for landing and warned us that it might be a bit bumpy because of the winds.

"All of a sudden I literally felt like I was on a roller-coaster, tilting from side to side, we had no idea what was going on, people were, to say the least, very, very nervous.

"I - as a father of three young children - started saying my last prayers because I've been flying for many years as a frequent flyer and I've never experienced such a terrible situation.

BA said that the flight landed safely and passengers left the aircraft normally. Credit: Twitter/MackeminGib

"It looks bad but it felt much worse... it felt as if the plane had completely lost control."



Praising the flight crew, Mr Hassett added: "You could see the pilot was well trained and she was professional to deal with any type of situation, but I don't think any of them had ever experienced this before."

The flight landed safely and BA insisted that 'at no point was there a risk to safety'. Credit: Twitter/MackeminGib

The aircraft involved was BA flight 492 which took off from Heathrow Airport at 8:25am yesterday.

According to The Sun, it had all but made its final approach to Gibraltar International Airport when it was forced to turn north and divert to Malaga.

In a statement, British Airways told LADbible: "The flight has landed safely and passengers have left the aircraft normally. Due to strong winds in the Gibraltar area, our pilots decided to land in Malaga as a precaution.