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London flight to Germany mistakenly goes to Scotland

By Ben Hooper
A British Airways flight that was supposed to travel from London to Dusseldorf, Germany, instead ended up in Edinburgh, Scotland, due to a mix-up with the flight plan. File Photo by Molly Riley/UPI
A British Airways flight that was supposed to travel from London to Dusseldorf, Germany, instead ended up in Edinburgh, Scotland, due to a mix-up with the flight plan. File Photo by Molly Riley/UPI | License Photo

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March 25 (UPI) -- Passengers on a London flight to Germany ended up taking a 525-mile detour to Scotland due to an apparent mix-up with the flight plan.

The British Airways flight that took off Monday morning from London's City Airport was meant to land in Dusseldorf, but due to an incorrectly filed flight plan, the pilot and crew thought they were supposed to land in Edinburgh.

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The flight was operated by German leasing company WDL Aviation on behalf of BA CityFlyer, a subsidiary of British Airways.

The plane eventually ended up taking off from Edinburgh to land in the correct destination.

Passenger Zsofia Szabo said she and her fellow flyers started noticing something was amiss when they noticed the landscape while the plane was preparing to land.

"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," Szabo told CNN. "Then my colleague sitting across the aisle from me told me to check Google Maps -- and it showed us being around Carlisle."

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She said the flight crew was apologetic when the mistake was discovered.

"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.

Szabo said the captain explained to passengers they would be continuing to the correct destination after refueling.

"Most of us found this situation quite funny," Szabo said. "People were on phone calls trying to convince everyone that they've arrived in the wrong city."

British Airways said it is working with WDL Aviation to find out how the wrong flight plan ended up being filed for the trip.

"We have apologized to customers for this interruption to their journey and will be contacting them all individually," an airline representative said.

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