British Airways customers left stranded on Heathrow runway for four hours without food after 'technical problem'

Furious British Airways passengers were left stranded on the runway for four hours without food after a “technical problem” grounded a flight to San Francisco.

The flight was due to take off from London Heathrow just before 11.30am on Wednesday but by 3pm passengers were still on-board the stationary plane.

One Londoner, who was travelling to San Francisco for a holiday, told the Standard: “They said there was some technical fault with the little truck that tows the plane to the runway.

“So we went back to the gate and they tried to fix it … but then it turned out that wasn’t the problem so they had to try something else.

“They gave us a bottle of water on the flight but no food – although I did see a member of cabin crew stuffing their face with crisps in the galley.

“The pilot said ‘this has not been BA’s finest hour’ but asked us not to take it out on the cabin crew.”

The passenger, who asked not to be named, said they were eventually disembarked from the plane at 3.30pm.

They were told the flight had been rescheduled to 6.25 pm – seven hours later than planned.

Another disgruntled customer ranted on Twitter about being “held on the plane”.

She wrote: “The plane is broken and can’t fly, yet we are still not allowed off the plane! This is not okay! Tried British Airways’ customer service, staff unwilling to help. This is how they treat dedicated customers.”

A British Airways spokeswoman said a "technical fault with the aircraft resulted in an aircraft change".

She added: "We are very sorry for the delay, and have arranged a replacement aircraft so our customers can continue on their way.

"Our crew are providing as much information to customers as possible and have offered them refreshments and meal vouchers."