BA rejects claims that it risked passengers’ lives
British Airways has rejected claims by passengers that it put their lives at risk after it made two emergency landings with the same fault.
The London-bound flight left Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday but was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing due to a problem with the wing flaps.
The problem reappeared when the same plane took off on Thursday, forcing it to turn back again.
Passenger Sean Casey, told the BBC that paramedics were brought on board to treat some of the passengers after the second emergency landing.
He said it was "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 passengers have lost thousands of pounds as their onward flights, holiday accommodation and car rental has been paid and lost".
He added: "I feel BA put 300 lives at risk by putting us on the same plane 24 hours after trying to fix a fault."
But BA have completely rejected the allegations that they would operate a flight unless it was safe to do so, saying the aircraft returned to Riyadh "as a precaution".
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."
Diane
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