British Airways air stewardess 'opened escape slide on first ever flight' - costing airline £50,000
15 June 2023, 17:58
A British Airways air stewardess opened the escape slide on her first ever flight, which cost the airline £50,000, according to reports.
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The clumsy employee opened the emergency chute on a plane that was waiting to take off from Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 - delaying passengers by five hours.
The plane was taxiing and was just minutes away from taking off on the ten-hour flight to Austin, Texas, when its emergency slide inflated.
One passenger took to Twitter to say that she was "traumatised" by the incident.
Sridevi Rao said: "I was in the very back row by the door when it flew open as we were moving towards the runway.
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"It was so loud and scary as the cabin depressurized and the slide inflated. #traumatized #BritishAirways."
Emergency services rushed to the scene to surround Flight BA191.
The plane had to be replaced, and a new emergency slide found for the original airbus.
A source told the paper the delay cost the airliner £50,000 before adding: "The stewardess has had a shocker."
It comes weeks after passengers were left terrified on a flight in Korea, when someone grabbed the emergency exit level in mid-air, opening the plane door.
Wind batters them as the aircraft descends to Daegu in South Korea, where the pilot landed it safely.
Video from onboard shows the chaos as passengers' hair and clothes is buffeted in the wind while the plane comes in to land.
Distressed travellers called for help as the Asiana Airlines came in to land with the door wide open, and 12 on board had to be taken to hospital with breathing difficulties.
