Passengers on smoky BA flight struggling to breathe months later

Passengers on a British Airways flight that filled with smoke before landing say the traumatic experience is still affecting their health more than two months later.

A total of 175 passengers had to be evacuated from flight BA422 from Heathrow to Valencia in Spain. The incident happened minutes before the Airbus A321 jet was due to touch down on August 5.

Some claimed they have since suffered from breathing difficulties, including Stephen McConnon, who said he has sores in his throat and is often “struggling” to breathe. He added that his performance at the gym has “fallen off a cliff”.

His colleague Frank Sweeney, who also experiences breathing difficulties, said he has not been told what chemicals he may have been exposed to.

He told the BBC: “I want to know, first of all, what did we breathe in? Was the plane maintained properly? Should it have been in the air?”

Gayle Fitzpatrick, from Glasgow, says she now struggles to walk uphill, and her doctor has referred her to a respiratory specialist.

She said: “I don’t smoke, I’ve never had any health concerns. So I know [it] must be directly attributable to that flight and whatever I inhaled.”

An investigation into the flight, which ended in an emergency landing, is being conducted by the Spanish authorities.

BA said that it could not comment until the inquiry is complete, for legal reasons.

In a statement BA said: “We know that this was an upsetting time, so we have stayed close to our customers, offering ongoing help and support.

“As well as our partners on the ground, we sent an additional 21 British Airways staff to Valencia to look after our customers in the first instance, and within 24 hours everyone on the flight was given a personal BA contact in our dedicated support team.

“We have offered to fund counselling and Flying With Confidence courses, and are committed to continuing this close contact for as long as our customers would like it.”

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