British Airways Flight 149 3630669 224469639 2008-07-08T23:51:59Z Chemtimh 7079113 /* Investigation */ {{Infobox Airliner accident|name=British Airways Flight 149| Crash image=|Image caption=Wreckage of Flight 149 at Kuwait International Airport, taken after the end of the [[Gulf War]].| Date=[[August 2]] [[1990]] | Type=Passengers and crew taken hostage hours after [[Gulf War|1st Gulf War]] started| Site=[[Kuwait City]], [[Kuwait]]| Origin=[[London Heathrow Airport]]| Stopover=[[Kuwait International Airport]]| Destination=[[Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport]]| Fatalities=1| Injuries=?| Aircraft Type=[[Boeing 747#747-100|Boeing 747-136]]| Operator=[[British Airways]]| Tail Number={{airreg|G|AWND|disaster}}| Passengers=367| Crew=18| Survivors=384| }} '''British Airways Flight 149''' was a flight between [[London Heathrow Airport]] and [[Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport]], (the former international airport for [[Kuala Lumpur]], [[Malaysia]]) operated by [[British Airways]] [[Boeing 747#747-100|Boeing 747-136]] [http://www.airfleets.net/crash/crash_report_IraqiGvmt_G-AWND.htm G-AWND]. The flight never reached Kuala Lumpur after stopping for a scheduled refuelling at [[Kuwait International Airport]], near [[Kuwait City]], several hours after the Iraqi [[invasion of Kuwait]] on the night of [[August 1]], [[1990]]. The aircraft operating the flight, its passengers and crew, were captured by Iraqi forces and the passengers and crew held hostage. One passenger, a member of the [[House of Al-Sabah|Kuwaiti Royal Family]], was killed by the Iraqis.<ref>''Last Flight to Kuwait'', [[BBC Two]], 19 March 2007.</ref> The remaining passengers were later freed and the aircraft was destroyed. Allegations were raised that the airline deliberately had not diverted in order to insert British [[Special Air Service|SAS troops]] into the country.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} ==Background== The flight left London Heathrow Airport for Kuala Lumpur via Kuwait and Madras around 6.15 p.m. on [[August 1]], [[1990]]. It had been delayed by, according to BA, a faulty air-conditioning unit. The flight's scheduled stop at Kuwait City was not changed, despite media reports of the worsening political situation in the region due to Iraqi demands for Kuwait to surrender territory. At 3.00 a.m. on [[August 2]], [[1990]], the flight landed at Kuwait International Airport, four hours after the Iraqi invasion began. After the passengers disembarked the aircraft, the airport was attacked, firstly by Iraqi fighter bomber aircraft, then overrun by tanks and soldiers by 7am. The passengers and crew of Flight 149 were detained. ==Detention== After being detained, a flight attendant was reported to have been raped by the Iraqi soldiers. [http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/2001/0425sadd.htm] Citizens of Western nations were taken from Kuwait to [[Baghdad]] where they were held as human shields alongside other Westerners in Kuwait at that time. Eventually most of them were released by the Iraqis before the [[Gulf War]] began. The aircraft itself was destroyed during the Gulf War, either by Allied bombing, or by the Iraqis themselves. ==Investigation== {{Unreferencedsection|date=March 2008}} Several court actions were raised by some of the passengers of the flight against British Airways for negligence in landing at Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion, and for loss of property. Conspiracy theories allege that the United Kingdom government transported intelligence agents or SAS troops to Kuwait aboard the flight, and otherwise it would not have landed in a potential war zone. However the UK government has denied this allegation. On [[July 15]], [[1999]], [[France|French]] passengers won damages from British Airways to the amount of £2.5 million. In a recent Discovery Channel documentary, the presence of at least 2 SAS intelligence officers aboard Flight 149 was confirmed. Also, the documentary revealed that the Thatcher administration was aware of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait 1 hour before Flight 149 was scheduled to land. However, the documentary does not explicitly accuse the administration of inserting the SAS soldiers using the flight. After the aerial attacks by Iraqi aircraft, including orchestrated bomb runs near the airport terminal, most passengers were transferred to the airport transit hotel, within the airport building before Iraqi tanks and troops over-ran the airport, by Kuwaiti ground personnel. The passengers were confined to various hotels in Kuwait also designated by the Iraqis for other foreigners to report to. These included the SAS and Regency Palace hotels. Detainees were then bused, with two or three police and armed soldiers as escorts, to Baghdad in a process that started within a few weeks of August 1. They were accommodated primarily on upper floors of the Melia Mansour Hotel, and transferred out to a variety of military and civilian locations as human shields. Western media were allowed to take pictures of the detainees swimming and playing tennis during one or two hours room breaks from the hotel. ==See also== * [[Accidents and incidents in aviation]] ==External links== * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/395492.stm BBC News- "BA loses Iraq hostage appeal "] * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6055048.stm BBC News - "UK hostages describe Kuwait ordeal (16/10/2006)"] * [http://www.discoverychannelasia.com/ontvindex/last_flight_kuwait/index.shtml - "Last Flight to Kuwait"] * [http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?front=yes&s=1&keywords=G-AWND Pre-destruction photos of destroyed aircraft] on [[Airliners.net]] == References == {{reflist|2}} [[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Kuwait]] [[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1990]] [[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 747]] [[Category:British Airways flights|Flight 149]] [[Category:Gulf War]] [[Category:1990 in Kuwait]] [[ja:ブリティッシュエアウェイズ149便乗員拉致事件]]