British Airways stewardess delays passengers by five hours and ‘costs airline £50,000’ on her maiden flight by activating the emergency slide moments before take-off
- The Airbus A350 had been minutes from take-off at Heathrow to Austin, Texas
- The rookie stewardess triggered the slide after opening rear door as jet taxied
A British Airways stewardess left passengers ‘traumatized’ after activating the emergency slide moments before take-off on her maiden flight with the airliner.
The bungling worker cost BA £50,000 following the ‘scary’ gaffe at Heathrow Airport, which delayed passengers for more than five hours.
The rookie crew member had been on her first flight on one of BA’s Airbus A350 jets when she accidentally opened the rear emergency door on Sunday afternoon.
The plane had been on taxing onto the runway and was minutes from take-off to Austin, Texas, when its emergency slide inflated, leaving passengers horrified.
Dr Sridevi Rao claimed to be one of the travellers on the plane and said she had been left ‘traumatized’ by the debacle.
The crew member had been on her very first flight on a BA Airbus A350 when she accidentally opened the rear emergency door on Sunday afternoon (File image of Airbus A350)
Passengers were left horrified after the stewardess set off the emergency slide moments before take-off on a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Austin, Texas
Writing on Twitter, she said: ‘I was in the very back row by the door when it flew open as we were moving towards the runway. It was so loud and scary as the cabin depressurized and the slide inflated. #traumatized #BritishAirways.’
The stewardess’s error sparked a major response from emergency services, who rushed to Terminal 5 to surround Flight BA191.
The jet reportedly had to be replaced and a new emergency slide found for the original Airbus.
The shocked crew member was ‘stood down’ from all duties by BA and ordered to go back to training, reports The Sun.
A source told the paper the delay cost the airliner £50,000 before adding: ‘The stewardess has had a shocker.’
The incident comes months after a similar gaffe in January, which saw the exact same thing happen on a BA flight to Lagos.
Speaking of Sunday’s debacle, a spokesman from British Airways said the passengers involved in it had all ‘disembarked normally’.
‘We arranged a replacement aircraft for them to continue their journey the same day and have apologised for the inconvenience caused,’ he added.
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