Brits ended up trapped on a British Airways flight for over five hours after the pilot was told that he had tested positive for Covid.
The British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Barbados on Tuesday should have taken about nine hours but just before pushing back from the gate, the pilot came on the intercom to tell the passengers his covid news.
Darcy Bourne, 20, a professional hockey player who plays for England, was among the passengers who chronicled the whole saga in a series of TikTok videos.
Bourne had boarded her flight from London at 9 am and started to become agitated after the flight still hadn’t taken off nearly two hours later. After a considerable delay, the passengers were then informed that they could not leave the plane as the pilot had tested positive for coronavirus.
In the viral TikTok video shared by Bourne, the pilot can be heard telling passengers about his positive Covid-19 test report and about the airline’s efforts to replace him.
Over the in-flight intercom, the pilot says: “What we’re currently doing is looking for another pilot to take my place and the process is ongoing, but it’s not going to happen quickly and at the moment we have got people in the process of trying to find someone”.
According to Stuff, the announcement has been made just moments before the flight was pushed back.
In the second video, taken in the airport’s departure lounge, Bourne says: “Update: they kicked us all off five hours later and gave us all $5 food vouchers.”
After five hours of waiting and being told to vacate the plane, the passengers were informed that the result was a false positive and they were permitted to board the flight.
In a third video entitled “Pilot Got Covid Pt 3”, Ms. Bourne shares the details of what exactly happened on the flight. She said: “We get on the plane about 9 am and are meant to take off at 10 am. At 10:45 am I am like “What is going on?” The pilot makes an announcement and he’s like “Hey guys, I’m sorry, I just tested positive for Covid.”
She continued: “But we’re not allowed to leave our seats. Three hours have gone by and we’re still sitting in our seats…can’t eat, can’t move….come on. People are getting rowdy, so they let us off the plane and give us $5 food vouchers.”
“Then, two hours after that, so like five hours, they tell us it was a false positive. He never had Covid. So we’re back on the plane, it’s all good, except the food has gone off, they had to throw out our food for the ten-hour flight. Anyway, fly for ten hours, hungry, it doesn’t matter…17 hours after getting on the plane we arrive,” she added.
Bourne also said in her final TikTok video that she had been given a free bottle of Caribbean rum as a way of an apology.
According to the British Airways plane schedule, the flight to Barbados from London’s Heathrow airport is about nine hours but the journey ultimately took 17 hours, and passengers reached Barbados on Wednesday morning.
The said airline apologized to the passengers and also thanked them for their patience and understanding while its teams sorted the matter. They also promised to reach out to the passengers from the concerned flight and make a goodwill gesture.