A British Airways passenger who was overweight had to be hoisted out when he got stuck in his first class seat.
The passenger was traveling from Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS) in Lagos, Nigeria to London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) on July 29, 2023.
The passenger was occupying seat 1A on the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, a first class seat. According to Seat Guru, a British Airways first class seat on a B777-300ER is 78 inches with a seat width of 22 inches.
The aircraft landed safely at around 05:00 local time after the 6-hour flight. However, it was at this point that the passenger seated on 1A realized that he was stuck in his seat.
Flight attendants tried to help the passenger out of his seat, and kept him calm.
Various local media reported that an engineering note said: “A volumetric passenger is stuck in seat 1A. The plan is to remove the suite door and use a hoist to eject [him] from the seat.”
“The passenger was mortified. It’s astonishing because the seats are the most spacious available.It was as embarrassing as it can get for him — especially when a door in the cabin had to be removed,” a British Airways insider told The Sun.
Overweight passengers have roused reactions from fellow plane passengers.
In October 2022, American Airlines offered a travel credit to a passenger who complained of being “wedged” between overweight passengers on a flight.
In 2015, an Australian passenger sued Etihad Airways after he claimed that he suffered back pain after being seated next to an overweight man on a flight.
Airlines have different policies regarding overweight passengers. For instance, United Airlines requires “customers who require extra seating” to purchase an additional seat in advance, while some airlines refund the purchase if one or more seats are available after flight takeoff.