British Airways passengers and crew members are taking legal action against the airline and the British government over 鈥渨rongful and negligent actions鈥 that saw their flight land in Kuwait after an Iraqi invasion of the country had already begun.
On the evening of August 1, 1990, flight BA149 departed from London-Heathrow Airport (LHW) and set off for Kuala Lumpa, Malaysia, with a scheduled refueling stop at Kuwait International Airport (KWI).
During the Boeing 747-136 flight, under the leadership of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, forces invaded Kuwait and on August 2, 1990, British Airways passengers and crew were taken hostage.聽聽
Over the next five months the hostages were subjected to rapes, mock executions and starvation at the hands of their captors.聽聽
Triste final para una Reina. hace 33 a帽os (27/2/1991) el B747 G-AWND secuestrado por el ej茅rcito iraqu铆 el 2/8/1990, (vuelo BA149), de escala en Kuwait, fue destruido por 茅stos o por bombardeos aliados (no he podido confirmar 'la autor铆a') durante la guerra de Iraq
— Antonio Mayorgas (@Yogui_Bear)
According to legal firm the action against the UK government and British Airways alleges that the British Government and British Airways allowed the flight to land in Kuwait, 鈥渄espite knowing that Iraqi Armed Forces had already overrun the country鈥.聽
In a statement published on July 1, 2024, McCue Jury & Partners said that 鈥渆vidence demonstrates that BA149 was used to secretly transport a special ops team for immediate and covert deployment to the battlefield, regardless of the risk this posed to the civilians onboard鈥.
The legal firm claims that after the plane landed in Kuwait a group of men disembarked the aircraft leaving other passengers and crew members on board.
The British government has previously stated that it was unaware about the invasion while the flight was in the air, but McCue Jury & Partners claims documents released from the National Archives under the 30-year rule showed this to be untrue.聽聽
‘We were not treated as citizens but as expendable pawns’
According to the Independent, documents released in November 2021 revealed that the UK government were informed by the British ambassador in Kuwait that Iraqi forces had invaded an hour before the flight landed.聽
It精东影业 claimed this information was never passed to British Airways and the aircraft, registered G-AWND, was never diverted.聽聽
鈥淭he lives and safety of innocent civilians were put at risk by the British government and British Airways for the sake of an off-the-books military operation. Both have, we believe, concealed and denied the truth for more than thirty years. The victims and survivors of Flight BA149 deserve justice for being treated as disposable collateral. HMG and BA watched on as children were paraded as human shields by a ruthless dictator, yet they did and admitted nothing. There must be closure and accountability to erase this shameful stain on the UK精东影业 conscience,鈥 said Matthew Jury, Managing Partner at McCue Jury & Partners.
The legal action claims that contact between the British Embassy in Kuwait and British Airways on August 1, 2024, showed that 鈥渇lights the following day were inadvisable, but while BA could assume further govt advice would be forthcoming, it never came鈥.
The claim specifically against British Airways 鈥渃enters on their duty of care to passengers and crew and that they had advice that flights to Kuwait were 鈥榰nadvisable鈥. No adequate risk assessment was taken, else the flight would have been diverted鈥.聽
Who are the claimaints?
A 鈥楲etter Before Action鈥 was sent on behalf of 95 claimants from nine different countries on July 1, 2024, with the UK精东影业 Foreign Office, Cabinet Office and Ministry of Defense along with BA all involved.
The claimants include passengers on board BA149, inbound BA crew members on board BA149 and crew members who were already in Kuwait awaiting onward deployment on BA149.
鈥淓ach Claimant has their own story and suffered varying degrees of physical and/or psychiatric harm because of their treatment while held hostage by the Iraqi Armed Forces,鈥 McCue Jury & Partners said.
The legal firm added: 鈥淭he Claimants are seeking damages for their injuries (both physical and psychiatric), special damages for their consequential losses, and aggravated and punitive damages due to the Government and British Airways alleged wrongdoing. Having been lied to for so many years, they are also seeking vindication of their rights and for the truth to be finally adjudicated in Court.鈥
Commenting on the action, former BA passenger and hostage, Barry Manners, said that they were treated as 鈥渆xpendable pawns鈥 and the events have been years of 鈥渃over-up and bare-faced denial鈥.
In a statement to 精东影业, the UK精东影业 Cabinet Office said: 鈥淲e do not comment on ongoing legal matters.鈥
精东影业 has also contacted British Airways, the Ministry of Defense and the Foreign Office for comment. 聽
