A British Airways plane flew billed to go to Dusseldorf in Germany mistakenly took passengers to Edinburgh, Scotland instead.
The passengers didn’t know about the mistake until the pilot said the plane was about to land in Edinburgh, which is around 500 miles (800 kilometres) from Dusseldorf.
After landing, the crew realised the mistake, refuelled the plane and flew to Dusseldorf, delaying passengers for more than three and a half hours.
“We are working with WDL Aviation, who operated this flight on behalf of British Airways, to establish why the incorrect flight plan was filed,” a spokesman for the airline said.
The error was due to an incorrectly filed flight plan which led the pilot and the cabin crew to believe the flight was bound for Edinburgh. The flight was operated by German leasing company WDL Aviation on behalf of the British Airways subsidiary airline BA CityFlyer.
Szabó, one of the passengers on the plane told CNN she realized something was amiss when she saw mountains outside the plane, instead of the “usual German industrial landscape.”
“When we started descending and I saw some taller hills/mountains, I did think that this isn’t how Eastern Netherlands/Western Germany should look like but I assumed we took some small detour,” she said.
“Then my colleague sitting across the aisle from me told me to check Google Maps — and it showed us being around Carlisle.”
“The information then spread around quite quickly. Everyone started asking everyone else where they were going — everyone was for Dusseldorf.
“When we landed there was a bit of a hilarious moment when the flight attendant asked for a show of hands for the people going to Dusseldorf, which turned out to be everyone,” she said.
“Most of us found this situation quite funny,” Szabó said. “People were on phone calls trying to convince everyone that they’ve arrived in the wrong city.”