Reuters - 28 Aug, Saturday
LONDON - British Airways apologized to passengers after an
emergency message warning they were about to crash into the sea was
played by mistake.
About 275 passengers were on the London Heathrow to Hong Kong
flight on Tuesday evening when the automated message went out. The
plane was flying over the North Sea at the time.
Cabin crew quickly realized the error and moved to reassure the
terrified passengers.
"We all thought we were going to die," Michelle Lord, 32, of
Preston, northern England, told The Sun newspaper.
Another passenger was reported saying: "I can't think of
anything worse than being told your plane's about to crash."
A spokesman for British Airways said an investigation was under
way to discover whether it was human error or a computer
glitch.
"We apologize to passengers on board the flight for causing them
undue distress," he added in a statement.
"Our cabin crew immediately made an announcement following the
message advising customers that it was an error and that the flight
would continue as normal."
Source:
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20100827/tod-odd-us-britain-ba-emergency-odd-a929486.html