A WOMAN who was trying to fly home for her friend’s wedding claims she was left stuck on a plane for over five hours after the engine froze – and the de-icer machine to thaw it froze too.
Dr Aine O’Brien decided to fly to London from Glasgow last Wednesday to attend the nuptials after her train was cancelled due to strikes.
The 32-year-old was initially due to fly the previous day before her flight was cancelled and she was transferred to a 7am British Airways flight from Glasgow Airport to London Gatwick.
However, geochemist Aine claims she was then left sitting on the tarmac of the morning flight for almost six hours in freezing cold temperature after the engine blades were iced over.
Aine, from Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, alleges that passengers were told the plane was grounded because of ice on the engine blades and that the machine used to thaw them was also frozen over.
The crew allegedly tried to use a small heat gun to melt the ice on the blade but when that didn’t work, Aine says the crew and passengers on board were left with no idea as to when the flight would leave.
Aine claims that there was little offer of food despite most people having been at the airport since around 5am.
Aine says she was left to wrap herself in a jacket, hat and scarf in cold temperatures to keep warm as staff eventually handed out small bottles of water.
Into the third hour of the delay, staff purportedly handed out tea and coffee whilst people struggled to keep their children entertained.
Aine claims some passengers even opted to leave the flight as they knew they would be missing connections or were only going to London for the day.
The flight eventually took off at 1pm before landing in London at 2pm.
Speaking today, Aine said: “On Tuesday evening we had checked in and even bought some whisky for our friends in departures only for that flight to be cancelled about an hour before boarding.
“The BA desk then rebooked us for the 7am flight to Gatwick, however once we got on the plane at Glasgow Airport there was a series of issues.
“After an hour they told us that the engine blades were frozen and that the de-icer had frozen too.
“After four or five hours the de-icer was ready and they de-iced the engine but once they had done that the wings had frozen over as it had been several hours of sitting on the plane.
“It was a bit chilly so I had a hat and scarf on while onboard.
“There was at least a nice sunrise that we got to watch and then we just watched the sun go around the sky.
“There were lots of people onboard who had connections and there was no information for them.
“The cabin crew tried to get some information but they couldn’t obtain it by the time the flight landed.
“It wasn’t a busy flight in the end as there was a lot of people who got off once they realised they would miss their connections.
“There were a few families on board with young children and in fairness the crew were great looking after them and I was amazed none of the kids had tantrums.
“The cabin crew were pretty informative and kept us updated – it sounded like they weren’t given very much information themselves from the engineering team so they just told us all they could.”
Speaking today a British Airways spokesperson said: “We apologised to customers for the delay to their flight which was caused by inclement weather conditions across the UK and Europe.
“Our teams provided refreshments during the delay and got customers on their way as quickly as possible.”
