Despite constant training on how – and when – to use emergency equipment onboard an aircraft, flight attendants, much like any other professional, can still make mistakes.
But one recent mistake made by a British Airways cabin crew member cost the airline more than $60,000 (£50,000) and resulted in the airline missing a takeoff slot.
According to The Sun, the new employee was supposed to debut on his first flight BA75 between London (LHR) and Lagos (LOS) in Nigeria on January 16, 2023. However, this first day on the job ended in an extraordinarily stressful scenario after the newcomer accidentally deployed the Boeing 777’s emergency slide when the plane had just pushed back from the stand at LHR airport while preparing for takeoff.
Emergency services rushed to the scene in response to the potential incident.
Due to the event, the British Airways flight was delayed for approximately an hour, while airline engineers solved the situation, and the airline missed its allotted take-off slot.
The British flag carrier apologized for the inconvenience and passengers continued their flight to Lagos with the same crew, except for the newcomer, on a replacement aircraft.
Another British Airways flight attendant later shared a photograph of a plane door on social media, with a caption that hinted at the challenging day.
“One blown slide, one NITS briefing, one diversion, two nights in Lagos, and a very tired crew,” was written in the message.
#BritishAirways Boeing 777-200 (G-VIIK) flight #BA75 to #Lagos, Nigeria the emergency slide was deployed during pushed back from the gate at #London Heathrow Airport.
— FlightMode (@FlightModeblog) January 13, 2023
📷 ©@MZulqarnainBut1#Boeing #B777 #Nigeria #uk #Heathrow #aviation #AvGeek #avgeeks #flights #Travel #traveler pic.twitter.com/5SbjMbnYos