Pilot's Wrong Button Push Triggers High-altitude Panic
By Xue Shanshan of the Global Times, according to a report on August 27 by the UK's The Sun, an announcement made by the pilot of a British Airways passenger flight mistakenly informed passengers that the plane would make an emergency water landing, causing panic among the passengers.
According to the report, this British Airways flight was scheduled to fly from Heathrow Airport in the UK to Hong Kong with 275 passengers onboard. While flying over the North Sea, due to the pilot accidentally pressing the wrong button, an announcement was made stating that the plane would make an emergency landing at sea, which caused great panic among the passengers. Later, the crew apologized, stating that it was entirely a mistake.
This incident caused panic among the passengers onboard. A 32-year-old passenger named Michelle said, "Everyone was very scared. We all thought we were going to die. They said the reason for the wrong button being pressed was because the buttons were too close together." Another passenger commented, "I don't think anything is worse than being told that the plane is going to crash."