British Airways faces a potentially hefty compensation bill, after a ground handling incident at London Heathrow airport disrupted one of its long-haul flights.
The Boeing 787, which was due to operate flight BA299 from London to Chicago today, was being checked by engineers while refuelling took place.
A platform had been placed beneath the aircraft’s fuselage, but as the fuel was added and the aircraft’s weight increased, it settled onto the equipment which became jammed underneath the plane, The Independent reported.
The fuselage sustained “minor damage” in the accident, the airline said.
Attempts were made to resolve the issue and find an alternative aircraft, but these were unsuccessful.
This meant the 1.10pm departure was cancelled, including the return overnight service from Chicago to London, BA298.
British Airways had to provide hotels for passengers at Heathrow. They are being rebooked onto alternative flights.
If there were around 240 people booked onto both legs of the flight, each person would be able to claim £520 in compensation, which would equate to around £250,000.
One passengers said that it took BA around three hours to confirm the flight had been cancelled, which meant it was too late by that point to find an alternative flight.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: “Our aircraft sustained some minor damage as it was being prepared for boarding at Heathrow. Safety is always our priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so.
“We've apologised to our customers for the disruption to their travel plans and our teams have worked hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible.”
