BA ‘technical issue’ causes plane to fill with smoke
British Airways has not yet confirmed what caused an Airbus A321 to fill with smoke as it landed at Valencia yesterday.
The airline said Flight BA422 from Heathrow to Valencia experienced a ‘technical issue’ on its landing approach into the Spanish city but would not give further detail about the problem.
The 175 passengers on board had to be evacuated down emergency chutes when a thick fog went through the cabin.
Some took video and pictures as they rushed to get off the plane and others described the experience as terrifying, ‘like a horror film’.
Others complained there was little communication from the airline.
A spokeswoman for BA said: "All our customers were evacuated safely by our crew and met by the airport’s emergency services.
"There were 175 customers on board the flight, with six cabin crew and two pilots. Three customers were taken to hospital as a precaution and have since been discharged.
"The safety of our customers and crew is always our highest priority. In addition to our team on site, other British Airways team members have arrived in Valencia to help our customers and our local airport partners with anything they need."
Pilots union BALPA praised the ‘professional job done’ by the pilots and crew.
"Clearly this aircraft suffered a technical problem which led to smoke entering the cabin and cockpit, the cause of which will need to be investigated," it said.
Brian Strutton, BALPA general secretary added: "In this case, the pilots and crew appear to have done an excellent and highly-professional job of getting this aircraft safely onto the ground in very difficult circumstances, and safely evacuating all the passengers with no reported serious injuries. We believe the pilots landed this aircraft wearing full oxygen masks and goggles which is extremely challenging.
"We will await the accident report, but this looks to have been a very well-managed emergency situation, and overall a good outcome, and I pay tribute to the pilots and crew for a job very well done."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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