British Airways flight to Dusseldorf lands in Edinburgh by mistake
Written by News on 26/03/2019
British Airways has apologised after a flight to Dusseldorf landed in Edinburgh by mistake.
A paperwork error has been blamed after passengers ended up more than 500 miles from their planned destination on Monday.
The plane took off from London City Airport shortly after 7.30am and followed instructions to fly to the Scottish capital instead of the German city.
Passengers told how they thought the pilot was joking when he announced they were about to land in Edinburgh.
Son Tran, who was on board, said the journey “felt like an honest mistake” and the crew was “convinced of the Edinburgh flight path from the get-go”.
“I don’t think anyone on board has signed up for this mystery travel lottery,” he wrote in a tweet to BA.
After the flight crew was alerted to the mistake, the plane was refuelled and flown to Dusseldorf, where it touched down more than three-and-a-half hours behind schedule.
The flight was operated by German firm WDL Aviation on behalf of BA CityFlyer, which is a subsidiary of British Airways
An investigation has been launched by the firms to find out why the paperwork error occurred.
A British Airways spokesman said: “We are working with WDL Aviation, who operated this flight on behalf of British Airways, to establish why the incorrect flight plan was filed.
“We have apologised to customers for this interruption to their journey and will be contacting them all individually.”
WDL Aviation said in a statement: “We are working closely with the authorities to investigate how the obviously unfortunate mix-up of flight schedules could occur.
“At no time has the safety of passengers been compromised.
“We flew the passengers on the flight with number BA3271 to Dusseldorf after the involuntary stopover in Edinburgh.”
(c) Sky News 2019: British Airways flight to Dusseldorf lands in Edinburgh by mistake
