Travel Forum / Travel Types / Air Travel / December 2005

Angry Germans sue after plane delay on snowy runway

BERLIN (Reuters) -- Six German airline passengers who said they were
being held against their will on an aircraft stuck on the runway for
hours during a snowstorm have filed "false imprisonment" charges,
German police said on Saturday.

The passengers filed charges against the pilot of a British Airways
Berlin-London flight that sat on the runway for seven hours before it
could take off, a federal police spokesman said.

Passengers boarded the plane at Berlin's Tegel airport at 7 a.m. on
Thursday, but snow and ice delayed their takeoff. At 11:30 a.m. a man
named Ingo Q. called a police emergency hotline on his cell phone and
said he felt as if he was being "held hostage", the tabloid Bild
reported on Saturday.

Police boarded the plane and Ingo Q. ran forward and screamed "I want
to get out of here." But only three people who only had hand luggage
were allowed to leave the plane.

Shortly after noon, Ingo Q told police again that he wanted to leave
the aircraft, still waiting on the snow-covered runway. Ingo, his wife
and another couple from Biesdorf near Berlin were allowed off the
plane at 12:48 p.m., and it finally took off at 2:36 p.m., seven hours
late, Bild said.

The Berlin police spokesman said it was an unusual incident. "The
plane stood there for a long time ... It's difficult to say whether
the passengers are allowed off or not. It's something they have to
work out with the captain."

Engine Fire Forces Jet to Return to JFK

NEW YORK (AP) - An engine fire forced a British Airways jet to return
to John F. Kennedy International Airport shortly after taking off
Thursday night.

One of the four engines on the London-bound Boeing 747 ignited shortly
after its 11 p.m. departure, said John McCarthy, a spokesman for the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The plane landed safely and no one was injured, he said, and the pilot
extinguished the fire.

Approximately 300 passengers were on Flight 116, which was headed to
Heathrow airport, McCarthy said.

The passengers and crew were scheduled to take another flight Friday
morning.