Oops: Plane Mistakenly Warns Passengers of Crash

False alarm panics people on British Airways flight
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 17, 2012 3:57 PM CST
Updated Jan 21, 2012 12:16 PM CST
Oops: Plane Mistakenly Warns Passengers of Crash
File photo of British Airways planes.   (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

It's 3am and you're snoozing on an overnight flight to London when a message plays over the PA: This plane may be about to crash. That's what happened to passengers on a British Airways flight from Miami last week, before the cabin crew told everyone it had just been a mistake, the Telegraph reports. "An alarm sounded and we were told we were about to land in the sea. I thought we were going to die," said a passenger. "My wife was crying and passengers were screaming."

"When we landed they were handing out letters apologizing, but it was the worst experience of my life. I don't think BA should get away with this," said another passenger. BA apologized "for causing undue concern." It's not the first time such a message has been mistakenly played on the airline. Last year, an announcement on a flight from London to Hong Kong told passengers the plane might have to "make an emergency landing on water," apparently because a pilot hit the wrong button. (More British Airways stories.)

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