Passengers had screamed and been physically sick as the Heathrow-bound Boeing 747 had to turn round and make an emergency landing (right) and dump 20 tonnes of fuel (left) at King Khalid International in Saudi Arabia shortly after take-off when its wing flaps jammed. Astonishingly, when they boarded the same plane yesterday the same problem occurred and they had to return to the capital Riyadh again. In the terminal there was 'mayhem' (centre) as just one BA worker tried to deal with more than 300 furious passengers who staged a sit-in while other ground crew 'hid' in a back office, said passenger Dean Jones. 'Fights broke out and the military turned up,' he added.
‘We were furious they put us back up in the plane when they knew there was a serious problem. BA customer relations have been useless.’
Flight 262 had been due to leave King Khalid International at 12.40am on Wednesday but was delayed for five hours. It was in the air for about 40 minutes before the pilot announced there was problem with the wing flaps and they would have to return to the airport after dumping fuel.
Mr Jones said: ‘We were circling over the desert with fuel streaming out. People were anxious. Then we came back to Riyadh very fast and very low over the city.
'There was screaming and crying. We hit the runway with a massive bang.’
He said they had to make their own way to accommodation, before being told to return to the airport at 3am for a flight on the same plane that eventually took off at 8.45am.
Before both landings, the packed jet had to circle over the desert dumping 20 tons of fuel to ensure it was light enough to land safely. Ambulances and fire crews ‘chased it down the runway’ as it returned on both occasions, passengers said.
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