British Airways is facing a potential compensation bill of a quarter of a million pounds after a ground handling mishap at London Heathrow airport. The Boeing 787, scheduled to operate flight BA299 to Chicago O'Hare, was being checked by engineers as refuelling took place.
A platform was placed beneath the fuselage. As the weight of the aircraft increased, it sank onto the equipment, which became jammed beneath the plane. The fuselage sustained minor damage, according to the airline.
After attempts to resolve the problem and find another aircraft to operate the service failed, the 1.10pm departure was cancelled, along with the inbound overnight flight from Chicago to London, BA298.
The damaged aircraft has a capacity of 256 passengers. Assuming both legs had around 240 people booked, and all claimed the £520 compensation, the payout would reach £250,000. In addition, British Airways had to provide hotels for the passengers at Heathrow. They are being rebooked on alternative flights on Monday.
A passenger on the plane, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "When the plane was refuelled it obviously weighed more, so dropped slightly meaning the platform got wedged underneath. There were countless technicians around the platform. BA tried to find another plane instead but couldn't, and so after three hours they said the flight was cancelled. By then it was too late to find an alternative flight."
He was accommodated in a Heathrow hotel and rebooked on American Airlines to Chicago on Monday morning.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: "Our aircraft sustained some minor damage as it was being prepared for boarding at Heathrow. Safety is always our priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so. We've apologised to our customers for the disruption to their travel plans and our teams have worked hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible."
