A chunk of ice broke the windshield of a British Airways plane traveling from London to Costa Rica, which was supposed to make a return flight with 200 people who were scheduled to travel to the United Kingdom for Christmas.
The incident occurred on December 23 and the pilots of the plane managed to land in Costa Rica, however, the return flight with the waiting passengers could not be made in time due to the need to repair the aircraft.
Report indicates that the plane was flying at 35,000 feet from Gatwick (London) and was hit on the way by a block of ice that fell from another plane “that was flying 1,000 feet above it.”
The repair of the Boeing 777 on Costa Rican soil reported multiple delays that prevented tourists from returning home for Christmas and having to stay at a nearby hotel.
Initially flight BA2236 back from London had to be made on December 23, at that time, due to the incident, passengers were told that the delay would be 90 minutes (one hour and a half), however, it ended up being 50 hours.
“Their flight was scheduled for the following night, but the impossibility of diverting a plane from Jamaica meant that they were forced to spend another night at the airport hotel and, finally, they left 50 hours late,” the British media narrates.
What happened has a probability of “one in a million”, they indicated
Among the 200 affected by the flight delay at Christmas was a newly married couple, Jo Mitchel and Geir Olafsonn, who arrived in Costa Rica for their honeymoon and intended to return to their country for Christmas.
They used the flight via Gatwick (London) to get to Edinburgh. “We were desperately trying to find a connecting flight at that point that would get us there in time not to miss the family Christmas,” Mitchel said.
He added that they did not have clear information about the delay and that the flight time indicated that it was a four-hour delay, however, as the minutes passed, the line of people at the airport waiting for information grew larger until they were asked. They indicated that the plane could not fly until it was repaired.
“At this point we were devastated realizing that we would miss Christmas with our two families. “People in the queue begged staff for an alternative, some angry, others crying. People burst into tears because it was the first time they were told that they were going to miss Christmas (with the family),” added the passenger.
The account of what happened indicates that the passengers were told that due to an incident involving the windshield, the flight could not leave on December 23, but on December 24 at 10 p.m., however, the inconveniences continued to arise because the crew that He would take them back was “at the end of his allowed working hours.”
Finally, the next day, after another confusion due to the number of passengers, the return flight from Costa Rica to London was carried out on the night of December 25 and the people arrived at their destination on the afternoon of Sunday, December 26.
For its part, the airline apologized to passengers for having “ruined” people’s Christmas plans and indicated that it was their duty to ensure the safety of the windshield repair in order to travel.
