- Crew got stuck in lift for hours at Birmingham Airport delaying Qatar flight
There has been travel chaos after a flight crew – believed to include the pilot – got stuck in a lift at Birmingham Airport for more than three hours, causing travel chaos and delays for hundreds of passengers.
The 7.45am Qatar Airways service to Doha, the Qatari capital, was unable to take off until firefighters freed the team, who were stranded from around 6am until just before 9.30am today.
Passengers, many of whom were due to catch onward connections at Qatar to other countries, faced what one described as a ‘massive queue’ for meal tickets as they waited for what they branded a ‘shambles’ to be resolved.
The airport confirmed aviation crew members were stuck in a temporary lift and apologised to passengers for the delay.
A passenger, who asked not to be named, said everyone due to fly was moved out of the boarding area while they awaited an update.
They said: ‘The flight was due out at 7.45am to Doha, what they’ve told us is the pilot has been stuck in an airport lift since 6am. Half the staff and the pilot and the staff are stuck in the lift.
‘It’s shambolic, so basically you’ve got people going all over the world, Australia, New Zealand.’
At around 10am the airport’s departure board was showing a ‘final call’ message for flight QR36, but by 10.30am that message had changed to ‘gate open.’
Flight tracking information shows the flight took off at 11.40am, nearly four hours after its scheduled departure, and that it landed in Doha at 8.28pm, local time, 5.28pm UK time.
‘Everybody has connecting flights in Doha, no-one knows when the next flight is’ the passenger explained. ‘It’s the ground staff telling us the pilot is stuck.’
He said there was a ‘massive queue’ with passengers given meal tickets as they awaited an update.
The passenger added: ‘I’m off to Malaysia, there’s people here going to Australia, Bali, we’re just waiting now for a meal ticket which will be about £8 but it costs about £4.50 for a Costa coffee.
‘If the pilot has been stuck in there for so long, he may not even be in a fit state to fly, apparently he’s still in there. It’s some story isn’t it, you couldn’t make it up!’
A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said earlier today: ‘At 6am today, airline crew members reported becoming stuck in one of our temporary lifts.
‘With our lift contractor unable to reactivate the lift system, West Midlands fire service removed a panel to allow the crew out just before 9..30am. We are very sorry to airline crew members and customers affected by this.
‘The 7.45am Doha service is set to depart in the next hour.’
Doha is key connection for those travelling to destinations such as Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Qatar reinstated its daily Doha service earlier this year after a three-year break due to the pandemic – with Emirates and Saudi Arabia also helping meet demand for Middle Eastern destinations from the Midlands.
Construction work continues at the Solihull-based airport on its essential security hall upgrade – a major project to bring it in line with regulations by June 2024, costing £40 million.
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