A British Airways Airbus A380 superjumbo got stuck for nearly an hour at Boston Logan Airport on Friday afternoon after the pilots took a wrong turn on the myriad taxiways that crisscross the airfield and ended up on a taxiway that was closed due to construction work.
British Airways flight 213 had just landed in Boston after a six-and-a-half-hour flight from London, but after arriving ahead of schedule, the passengers were left waiting on the double-deck aircraft as airport authorities worked out how to get the plane back on the correct taxiway.
The eleven-year-old aircraft had landed on runway 4R, and the pilots were directed to taxi onto taxiway N3, then onto taxiway N, and finally onto taxiway M before holding short of intersecting runway 15L.
Instead, the pilots taxied onto N3 and taxiway N before somehow crossing runway 22R and ending up back on taxiway N, which runs parallel to runway 22R. At this point, however, taxiway N is closed for construction.
By the point that the pilots realized their mistake, there was no alternate taxiway to divert to. Without the ability to reverse, the aircraft was effectively stuck.
It took around 45 minutes for the airport authorities to work out a solution, getting a pushback tug to reverse the aircraft all the way back to taxiway M, where the aircraft was then able to move under its own power again and eventually taxi to the gate without further incident.
It’s an embarrassing snafu for British Airways, and it could result in an investigation from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), given the fact that the pilots somehow crossed the threshold of a live runway without permission.
Although the debacle resulted in a slight arrival delay for the passengers, they should at least be happy that this particular British Airways A380 flight ended up departing at all.
Along with problems with the Rolls-Royce engines fitted to its Boeing 787 Dreamliners, British Airways has also been battling mounting issues with its fleet of superjumbos amidst rising cancellations due to maintenance issues.
British Airways grounded its A380s for several years during the pandemic, and it appears that they didn’t respond well to long-term storage. The airline has faced near-constant engineering issues with its superjumbos, and delays and cancellations are a near-daily problem.
British Airways has blamed continuing supply chain issues throughout the aviation industry for its inability to get the planes flying without last-minute cancellations, although the embattled carrier is committed to retrofitting the aircraft to keep them flying for years to come.
