[imagesource:ygt]

An overweight British Airways passenger had to be hoisted out of their first class seat after getting stuck for three hours on an aeroplane at Heathrow Airport.

The man was eventually freed after a cargo door was removed, allowing the man to exit the fuselage.

The man realised he could not get up after his 6-hour flight which landed on Saturday, and the crew members on the British Airways flight couldn’t help him either. Emergency ground crews were eventually called and after removing the door and employing a hoist, the man was safely lowered to the tarmac.

British Airways crew reported the man was mortified, and honestly, we have to feel sorry for the embarrassment he must have endured.

“It was as embarrassing as it can get for him — especially when a door in the cabin had to be removed.”

The passenger flew into Heathrow from Nigeria in seat 1A, which is usually the most desirable seat and costs £7 000 (R165 000), but comes with gourmet food and wine.

To make matters even worse, the man’s ordeal was summed up by an engineer’s note that read: ‘A volumetric passenger is stuck in seat 1A. The plan is to remove the suite door and use a hoist to eject [him] from the seat.’

“It’s astonishing because the seats are the most spacious available.It was as embarrassing as it can get for him.”

Overweight passengers have been a touchy subject for most airlines. In October 2022, American Airlines offered a travel credit to a passenger who complained of being “wedged” between overweight passengers on a flight.

In 2015, an Australian passenger sued Etihad Airways after he claimed that he suffered back pain after being seated next to an overweight man on a flight.

Airlines have different policies regarding overweight passengers. For instance, United Airlines requires “customers who require extra seating” to purchase an additional seat in advance, while some airlines refund the purchase if one or more seats are available after flight takeoff.

[source:dailymail&aerotime]