BA A380 floods after pipe breaks mid-flight

By JOHN HUTCHINSON FOR MAILONLINE A passenger has described how people were left with ‘wet feet’ after a trolley hit a water pipe causing a flood on a British Airways plane into London.

BA flight 56 was around 90 minutes from landing at Heathrow after setting out from Johannesburg when water began to leak through the cabin.

Staff frantically rushed to put blankets down to soak up the leak, which originated from the upper cabin of the Airbus A380 on Sunday.

Passenger Nicolas Gausserand, who is a frequent flier with BA, described how he thought at first that a bottle of water had been thrown. But he said that water flowed for 15 minutes, creating a ‘weird atmosphere’, with cabin crew ‘overwhelmed’.

Speaking to MailOnline Travel, he said: ‘Everything on the floor was totally wet, my feet and my backpack were totally wet. Most of the passengers were not wearing shoes at that stage.

‘The crew began putting blankets on the floor. We saw that it was chaos and [they] were overwhelmed by the situation.’

He says that although the leak was from the upper deck, passengers on both parts of the plane were left with wet feet and belongings.

One of the pilots told the passengers that the leak was not dangerous, and that the plane would land as normal at Heathrow, although the electrical system was turned off.

After landing safely, the Aviation Herald says the aircraft was taken out of service for 64 hours while the fault was investigated.
A spokesperson for British Airways told MailOnline Travel: ‘A trolley knocked a water pipe and unfortunately it caused a leak on Sunday. Not serious but inconvenient.

‘There was no risk to the aircraft or customers on board. The aircraft landed normally at Heathrow, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience to customers.’

Mr Gausserand added: ‘Once we left the plane, we did not have any information or even recommendations.

‘I have contacted BA and I received apologies and few explanation about the leak. They also reimburse my wet iPad who was in my backpack but nothing more.

‘I’m surprised they did not contact every passenger to provide clear explanation and tell more about our safety.’