A British Airways stewardess delayed passengers by five hours after mistakingly activating an emergency slide moments before a translantic flight was set to take off.
Passengers on board a flight from Heathrow to Austin, Texas on Sunday were left sitting on the tarmac after emergency services rushed to the scene, The Sun reports.
The blunder cost the airline £50,000, according to reports, and left at least one passenger “traumatised”.
The activation meant passengers had to board another plane and a new emergency slide be found for the orginal Airbus 350 jet. Engineers had to lift the rubber slide from the tarmac as the plane was towed back to the stand.
The new stewardess was reportedly on her first job when she opened the emergency door in error.
She has been stood down from duties and told to return to training, according to The Sun.
Dr. Sridevi Rao said she was on board and was left traumatised.
“I was in the very back row by the door when it flew open as we were moving towards the runway,” she wrote on Twitter.
“It was so loud and scary as the cabin depressurized and the slide inflated.”
— Dr. Sridevi Rao (@sribee11) June 13, 2023
British Airways told the Standard: “The aircraft returned to stand and customers disembarked normally. We arranged a replacement aircraft for them to continue their journey the same day and apologised for the inconvenience caused.”
Affected customers were given refreshment vouchers to use in the airport while waiting for the new flight.
The affected aircraft returned to operations once our engineers approved it as safe to fly.
It comes just months after a similar incident unfolded on board a flight due for take-off to Lagos, Nigeria.
As the plane left Heathrow in January, the flight was forced to stop after the emergency slide opened.
Pictures on social media showed the BA aircraft stationery with a fire engine and other emergency vehicles surrounding it.
