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British Airways Denies Putting Passengers At Risk

British Airways have hit back over claims that their passengers lives were at risk after two emergency landings were made with the same fault. The airline have said that no time do we put our passengers lives at risk.

A British Airways Boeing 747 had left Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and was heading to London on Wednesday but the captain turned the plane around and made an emergency landing due to a fault with the wing flaps. The same plane had the same fault when it took off on Thursday and again the captain was forced to make an emergency landing.

A passenger on board the flight said a number of passengers were shocked, he explained that paramedics were brought on board to treat a number of the worried passengers after the second emergency landing took place. Sean Casey who was on board the British Airways Boeing 747 when it made it’s second emergency landing said the fault should have been dealt with the first time around.

Sean Casey said it is shocking the way passengers have been treated, he claimed that a number of passengers had lost thousands of pounds as they had missed a connecting flight.

‘British Airways Emmergency Landing – Passengers Were Not At Risk Says Airline’

He said: “ It is ‘scandalous’ that BA ground staff at King Khalid International Airport had been ‘unable to assist or advise on how they were going to get people to their final destination, many have lost thousands of pounds as their onward flights, holiday accommodation and car rental has been paid and lost,’ he said, adding: ‘I feel BA put 300 lives at risk by putting us on the same plane 24 hours after trying to fix a fault.’

A passenger who did not wished to be named told In2town Lifestyle News, “It is shocking that British Airways are prepared to put passengers at risk, if they knew the fault was not sorted then they should have arranged for another plane.”

A BA spokesman said: “We apologise to customers for their experience. We sent a replacement aircraft to Riyadh and customers have now landed in the UK. Our customer service teams are contacting customers directly to offer compensation, expenses and complimentary tickets as a gesture of goodwill.”

“The safety of our customers and crew is always our first concern, and due to a technical problem, the decision was taken to return the aircraft to Riyadh. Our crew and customer service teams did everything they could to care for customers, and we provided overnight hotel accommodation,’ he added.”

It seems that it has been a strange week when it comes to airlines and passenger safety, Ryanair were part of a programme with Channel Four that looked at the safety of the airline and the complaints by their pilots. Read more about Ryanair and the programme here.

By Diane Walker

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