Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Luton airport apologises after posting photograph of plane crash on Facebook page

Picture showed aftermath of a crash at Chicago in which a child was killed

Rob Williams
Thursday 14 March 2013 14:11 GMT
Comments
London Luton Airport
London Luton Airport (GETTY IMAGES)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

London Luton airport has apologised 'unreservedly' after a photograph of a plane crash at another airport was posted on their Facebook page.

The image, which was posted just after 09:15 GMT yesterday, showed the aftermath of a crash at Chicago Midway Airport in 2005, in which a child was killed.

It was accompanied by a caption which read: 'Because we are such a super airport...this is what we prevent you from when it snows...Weeeee :)'.

The photograph was removed from the Facebook page at 10:30 GMT yesterday.

It is thought the image related to an accident at a Chicago Midway Airport when a Boeing 737 slid off the end of the runway when landing in heavy snow.

A child in a car that was passing the airport was killed in the accident.

A spokesperson for the airport said today: "London Luton Airport apologises unreservedly for the post on Facebook, which was wholly unacceptable and insensitive.

"We have Social Media guidelines that clearly outline what is acceptable, however in this instance a new, over-enthusiastic member of our support team made an honest but misguided mistake and clearly stepped over the line.

We apologise for any offence caused. Further steps have been taken to guarantee this never happens again."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in