British Airways faces £100k loss after emergency slide blunder
An Airbus A321 was grounded, and the flight from London Heathrow to Brussels was delayed after a crew error. Incredibly, the British Airways crew accidentally deployed the emergency slide. "It’s a minimum £100,000 mistake," report British media.
Although the British Airways crew is trained to avoid such mistakes, incidents unfortunately occur. The airline now faces financial and reputational repercussions.
Costly mistake by British Airways crew
Passengers flying from London to Brussels were not pleased when they realised what had happened. One of the British Airways cabin crew members activated the emergency slide, rendering the plane unusable. Securing another aircraft to complete the journey, reloading luggage, and transferring passengers resulted in a delay of several hours.
Airline representatives state that the emergency slide was deployed accidentally. However, this mistake comes with a hefty price tag. "It’s a minimum £100,000 mistake" – report British media.
British Airways representatives apologised to passengers for the delay caused.
"I'm a former flight attendant. I believe they should sack that employee" – was written in a comment under one of the articles on this topic in British media. Other commenters also criticise the irresponsible behaviour of the airline employee.
Recurring incidents
This is not the first time the British Airways crew has made such a mistake. Last year, a similar situation occurred before a flight to Bucharest. In 2024, a young steward accidentally deployed the slide during taxiing, causing a four-hour delay.