In the aftermath of the British Airways IT debacle that snarled the carrier’s flights for days, the airline collected hundreds of suitcases in a pile where they’d be “out of sight” — British Airways was instructing passengers, too, to stay away from airports over the weekend which of course limits the photo opportunities documenting the extent of their operational failures.
One suitcase, though, was “blown by an engine draft for nearly 600 feet before it was stopped by panicking ground crew.”
‘With the engines running it quite easily could be sucked into the front, potentially during takeoff.
‘That comes at a risk to passengers and staff operating on the airfield. It could cause an engine failure or a fire.’
…’With the issues they’ve had recently at Heathrow they’re moving a lot of the baggage from the terminals out of the public eye – to hide them away.
‘In doing so, one was a bit of a runaway and made itself off down the taxiway in front of the aircraft. …’Lo and behold one’s managed to escape somehow which on a live taxiway is pretty dangerous. ‘It’s the draft of the aircraft that’s pushing it across the runway.
British Airways explains away the incident, “For safety reasons ground staff were not permitted to cross onto a live taxiway, so our aircraft were held while the case moved across the restricted area, and airport staff waited to safely collect the bag at the other side.”
BA boss Alex Cruz blamed a power surge for the airline’s IT failures. So he either learned from Delta, which falsely blamed Georgie Power for its own IT meltdown last year or they’ve cut so deeply at BA they can no longer even spend on surge protectors.
(HT: Alan H.)
Airplane to passenger: sorry guys, I can’t carry you today. Order from above. But at least I tried to get your luggage to taxi…..
Georgie Power would be a great name for a pop singer
A lot of articles in this area get really hyped up, and I thought it all sounded pretty sensational until I watched the video. That suitcase very easily could have been ingested by the engines and I doubt the pilots could see it from that angle. At best it would have destroyed the engine, at worst it could have started a fire resulting in loss of life and a hull write-off. Someone got real lucky!
“He thinks he’s people!” But seriously, it looks like a little, stout person running across the taxiway.
Not good, but runway is not the same as taxiway.
And that’s clearly a taxiway, not a runway.
Another inflammatory statement, this time about not affording surge protectors. Unless you have inside info please quit making sarcastic comments, they do no one any good and they certainly don’t add to any credibility your blog works for…
@Robert – you don’t have to appreciate my sense of humo(u)r of course!
If there is a laptop in the checked bag, would it explode if it was sucked into the engine? I wonder.
IT failures and IT security are safety issues. Governments (and airlines) need to start treating them that way NOW. The public must be protected from accidental or international acts that could cost lives.
Nice bag! I like how it stayed upright and on the rollers. Do you think i was a TUMI?
Last year I flew BA for the last time.
I stand by my decision and in light of the crap they have dished out in the past few weeks, my decision has been more than vindicated.
I made the decision after paying for Business Class ticket round trip on BA’s A380 LHR-YVR and was horrified to see 8 across ( compared to QR’s 4 across in the same space ). It was disgusting and not worth the money they ripped off me. The seat was cramped, the food was appalling, almost inedible, and the attitude of the stewardess’ and stewards was incredible for a service business. And now all of this.
But this is what happens when an airline installs a complete amateur as CEO from a LCC background with a LCC mentality. What a shame this once great airline has fallen into a state of disrepair at the hands of a recalcitrant. One day, after he is fired ( they should do it now ) and get rid of 75% of the cabin crew at the same time, someone will have to come along and try and restore the airline to the prestige status it once held in aviation. Imagine how long it will take to recover from the damage being caused by a LCC CEO.
Such a shame for Britain.