While one of the most common fears related to flying has to do with a fire breaking out aboard, a no less dangerous situation is the presence of toxic fumes that will not erupt into blazes but could be inhaled by travelers in a confined environment.
On Oct. 8, a British Airways flight from Barcelona to London's Heathrow Airport was greeted by ambulances on the tarmac after numerous passengers reportedly got exposed to fumes during the flight and started feeling unwell.
Related: Delta Airlines Just Had a Terrifying Situation Mid-Flight
Social media footage captured and shared by some of the passengers on the flight shows the Airbus A320 (EADSF) -) surrounded by multiple emergency vehicles while stopped at Heathrow's Terminal 5.
Nothing like being locked on a plane with a ‘potential contagion’ for an hour and half with no explanation or information. @britishairways @HeathrowAirport pic.twitter.com/xw8YzfEOUF
— Martin Hill (@MartinHill25) October 8, 2023
'No explanation or information,' traveler describes
"Nothing like being locked on a plane with a ‘potential contagion’ for an hour and half with no explanation or information," traveler Martin Hill wrote in a post shared on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Hill tagged both International Airline Group (BABWF) -)-owned British Airways and Heathrow airport in the post.
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"We were held for nearly two hours inside the plane on the Tarmac," Jenny Irons, another passenger aboard the flight, told the Daily Mail. "We were told there was a potential fire and that we were unable to disembark — one can only wonder at the logic in this."
The London Fire Brigade and the Metropolitan Police Service, which both arrived on the scene, said that further investigation did not find any elevated chemical readings inside the cabin but four passengers were treated at the scene over breathing issues.
An apology for 'delay and inconvenience' (but not much info)
"We sent a number of resources to the scene, including three medics in fast-response cars, two advanced paramedic practitioners, two ambulance crews, two incident response officers and members of our hazardous area response team (HART)," a spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service said in a statement. "After assessing multiple people at the scene, we treated three patients and discharged them."
After news coverage of the incident broke out online, British Airways released a statement saying that travelers eventually "disembarked the aircraft safely via steps." The airline is currently not commenting on what exactly transpired but repeated that the safety of passengers is a "top priority."
"We've apologized to them for the delay and inconvenience caused to their journey," the airline said in a statement.
Back in February, an actual fire broke out aboard a Delta Air Lines (DAL) -) flight from Edinburgh to New York. Passengers who were aboard reported seeing flames engulf one of the Boeing 767-300 (BA) -) wings before it made an emergency landing just 60 miles from its departure airport in Glasgow.
But while the captured photos of a plane wing in flames were extremely dramatic, everyone aboard the flight was able to get off and the fire was put out without any injuries. Later investigation determined the cause to be an engine fire. The plane was taken out of commission for examination while passengers on the way to New York were briefly stranded but were rerouted on different flights within the next couple of days.
