Summary
- A Bomb threat forced British Airways flight BA158 from Bermuda to London to evacuate.
- While the passengers safely disembarked the aircraft, the police had been forced to close down the road to/from the airport.
- British Airways flies the only non-US-bound destination from the Bermudan airport.
A British Airways Boeing 777-200ER was forced to abandon its planned takeoff to the United Kingdom after a bomb threat was received, forcing passengers to evacuate the aircraft. Videos circulating on social media showed the travelers outside the aircraft.
Bomb threat
While the Bermuda Police Service’s statement on Facebook read that roads had been reopened for traffic to L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA), the original statement said that there was “an ongoing emergency situation” at the airport. The service stated that passengers were forced to disembark a British Airways flight, with all of them being “safe and well.”
“As a result of this development, both the Causeway and Kindley Field Road will remain closed while the situation is addressed. We will provide updates as they become available.”
Meanwhile, a video shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed the passengers standing around near the British Airways aircraft, as well as a Royal Air Force (RAF) Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, at BDA.
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Stopping on the side of the runway
Flightadar24 data showed that the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, registered as G-VIIN, was already on the runway at BDA when it had to turn away on May 5. The aircraft was scheduled to depart Bermuda at 20:50 local time (UTC -3), arriving at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) the following day at 7:45.
Photo: Sudpoth Sirirattanasakul | Shutterstock
A British Airways spokesperson told Simple Flying that the safety of the passengers and employees is the highest priority, and the airline followed standard procedures to disembark the 777-200ER. Currently, the carrier’s teams are caring for its passengers while also supporting the crew members as British Airways is working to get them back to LHR as soon as possible.
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Only non-US destination
Data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that LHR is the only non-United States destination out of BDA, with British Airways operating a daily flight from BDA to LHR with a Boeing 777-200ER. The aircraft is equipped with eight first class, 49 business, 40 premium economy, and 138 economy class seats, resulting in 1,645 weekly flights and 9.1 million weekly available seat kilometers (ASK).
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
The remaining 90 weekly flights originating at BDA are flown to North America, with the most popular destinations being New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), with 18, 14, and seven weekly flights, respectively.
However, there are several airports in the US with daily flights arriving from BDA, yet EWR has the most seats out of the five US airports with seven weekly itineraries connecting from the Bermudan airport.
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