Aviation unions have praised British Airway pilots and cabin crew for landing their plane safely and evacuating all passengers after their aircraft filled with smoke.

One of the unions called for an inquiry into the incident in which nearly 200 people had to be evacuated from a British Airways flight after smoke poured into the cabin minutes before it was due to land in Valencia on Monday. Three people were taken to hospital after the incident and each was later discharged.

One passenger, Gayle Fitzpatrick, described anxiety among passengers as the incident unfolded. “It was very scary,” she said. “The flight was just ending, and with 10 minutes to go, it started descending rapidly as smoke started to fill the cabin.

Play Video 0:25 Smoke-filled British Airways plane lands in Spain – video

“There were no communications from the crew, who started to wear full oxygen masks and protective fire wear.”

“Eventually they managed to open the emergency doors and told us to go down the chutes. There were fire engines waiting and then we were all ushered into a bus to the airport.”

Unite, the UK and Ireland’s largest union, has called for an inquiry into toxic cabin air and fume events on board jet airliners following Monday’s incident.

Describing the event as the tip of the iceberg, Unite called on the airline industry to “come clean” over toxic cabin air and “clean up” its act by using safer oil to lubricate jet engines and fitting cabin air filters on board planes.

Howard Beckett, Unite’s assistant general secretary for legal affairs, said: “This latest fume event is deeply alarming. British Airways has some serious questions to answer regarding the safety of the aircraft, in addition to providing health and safety guarantees for our cabin crew members.

Unite said it is currently supporting 51 high court actions against five UK airlines after they said they found evidence that the air in most commercial airline cabins can cause irreversible neurological damage and chronic illness among susceptible individuals.

Beckett added: “Far too often fume events like these go unreported and are brushed under the carpet by the airline industry. This latest fume event only came to light because members of the media were on board the flight. The airline industry cannot continue to hide from the issue of toxic cabin air whilst placing the health and safety of aircrew at risk.”

Brian Strutton, the general secretary of the British Airline Pilots’ Association, said the aircraft clearly suffered a technical problem, the cause of which will need to be investigated.

Strutton praised the pilot and crew for their “excellent and highly professional job of getting this aircraft safely on to the ground in very difficult circumstances, and safely evacuating all the passengers with no reported serious injuries.

“We will await the accident report, but this looks to have been a very well-managed emergency situation, and overall a good outcome, and I pay tribute to the pilots and crew for a job very well done.”

A spokesperson for the Professional Pilots Union said: “All the crew on that aircraft did what they’re trained for brilliantly, and they’re a credit to all of us in the industry. Pilots and crew are the face of the company in these situations, and airlines would do well to remember that when negotiating with the unions representing these fantastic people.”