British Airways plane door ripped off in Cape Town
Flight had recently arrived from London Heathrow, and all passengers and crew had disembarked
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.The door of a British Airways plane has been ripped from the fuselage after it arrived at Cape Town from London Heathrow.
The Boeing 777 had flown the 6,000-mile journey on schedule, and all passengers and crew had disembarked when the incident happened. No one was hurt.
The aircraft was about to be towed from the stand at the South African airport to a remote stand to be parked for the day.
It was pushed back from the stand with the airbridge still attached to the “L2” door – the second on the left-hand side of the plane, used for boarding.
Pictures on social media show the plane with a gaping hole and the door propped up in an airbridge.
The plane was due to fly back to Heathrow on Wednesday evening as BA42. The online flight status read-out from British Airways says only: “We’re very sorry, this flight has been cancelled.”
Most passengers were accommodated on a second British Airways 777 service, BA56, which was held for two hours beyond its scheduled time.
Around 10 per cent of the other passengers were moved to alternative airlines.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: “We have apologised to our customers for the slight delay to their departure from Cape Town due to an issue with the original aircraft.
“Our customers are now safely on their way to London.”
The plane involved is 21 years old. The Boeing 777 is the workhorse of the British Airways long-haul fleet.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments