British Airways flight to Germany lands in Scotland by mistake

BRITISH AIRWAYS B747-436 G-BNLD (CN 23911)           File Photo

Passengers on a British Airways flight from London's City Airport (LCY / EGLC) to Düsseldorf, (DUS / EDDL) Germany, were left bewildered on Monday when their plane landed in Scotland by mistake. A blunder with paperwork seems to have been the problem: British Airways said a German company that had chartered the plane, WDL Aviation, had submitted the wrong route to air traffic controllers.

“We are working with WDL Aviation, who operated this flight on behalf of British Airways, to establish why the incorrect flight plan was filed,” British Airways said in a statement. The flight, BA3271, which took off from London City Airport at 7.30am local time, did not seem to have been in any danger; because of the incorrect paperwork, the crew — including the pilot — and air traffic controllers had all apparently believed that Edinburgh (EDI / EGPH) was the plane’s intended destination.  That came as small comfort to the passengers when flight attendants informed them that they had landed in the Scottish capital, about 520 miles from their intended destination. After the crew realised the mistake, the plane was refueled and flown to Dusseldorf, landing in Germany with a delay of more than five and a half hours. Initially perceiving it to be a joke, travellers only realised they were actually in Edinburgh when the captain entered the cabin and asked people to put up their hands if they were expecting to go to Dusseldorf. Everyone on board raised their hands.  A passenger reported the unplanned stopover grew increasingly frustrating, on a “really stuffy” plane. “The toilets were blocked and they ran out of snacks, she said”. After two and a half hours on the tarmac at Edinburgh airport, the refuelled passenger jet – a BAe 146 aircraft – took off again for Düsseldorf.  British Airways said, “We have apologized to customers for this interruption to their journey and will be contacting them all individually.” As well as the bonus trip to Edinburgh, passengers should be receiving at least £215  ($398 Australian) in compensation under EU flight delay regulation 261, after landing five hours and 20 minutes behind schedule on what should have been an hour-long hop.

An investigation has been launched by BA and WDL.




WDL's website can be accessed here  http://wdl-aviation.de/en/home-en/


Aircraft Information
Airline: WDL Aviation
Code: WH/WDL
Aircraft: BAe 146-200
Registration: D-AMGL
Serial Number: E2055
First Flew: 12/05/1986
Age: 32 Yrs 9 Mths