All the pilots in the flight deck of a recent British Airways flight from India to the UK became violently ill, to the point that one was even incapacitated. It’s believed that the “culprit” here was their layover hotel, where they all ate together. As you’d expect, the airline is now investigating.
In this post:
British Airways pilot incapacitated due to food poisoning
Details are coming to light about an incident that happened on a recent British Airways flight from Hyderabad (HYD) to London (LHR), flight BA276, operated by a Boeing 777-200ER. This flight is blocked at roughly 11 hours, meaning there are three pilots in the flight deck, so that they can take turns resting while at cruise.
However, there didn’t actually end up being much rest on this flight, and it sounds like they instead just took turns in the bathroom. It’s not clear when the issues started, but at some point during the flight, one of the first officers became violently ill, to the point that he was incapacitated, and had to be put on oxygen.
Meanwhile the other two pilots also had symptoms of food poisoning, but could continue working. Fortunately, those symptoms only worsened significantly after the plane landed back in the UK, and the airline insists that the safety of passengers wasn’t compromised. All three pilots filed Air Safety Reports over the incident, and were asked to provide samples, so that doctors could try to pinpoint the source.
The concept of all pilots on a flight becoming sick from food poisoning is of course the very theme of the 1980s movie “Airplane!” All three pilots become ill after they ate the fish. While that was of course dramatized for Hollywood, the concept behind this is real — at most airlines, the captain and first officer can’t order the same meal in flight, to minimize the odds of food poisoning.
Hotel club lounge breakfast believed to be at fault
The three pilots had eaten breakfast together in the club lounge at their layover hotel in Hyderabad the morning of the flight, and it’s believed that this was the source of the food poisoning.
However, union officials are furious, pointing out that there have been “dozens” of complaints about hygiene at the layover hotel in Hyderabad, yet the airline hasn’t done anything about it.
British Airways is now investigating this incident, sharing that “the welfare of our colleagues is a top priority and we are reviewing crew accommodation in this location following some isolated reports of sickness.”
Bottom line
A British Airways flight from Hyderabad to London didn’t go as planned, after the three pilots all had symptoms of food poisoning. One of the pilots even became incapacitated, and needed oxygen, while the other two pilots had symptoms, but they only worsened upon landing.
The union representing pilots claims that the carrier’s layover hotel in Hyderabad has received a lot of complaints about hygiene, yet the airline hasn’t done anything about it. Now British Airways is finally taking this seriously, and is investigating.
What do you make of this British Airways food poisoning incident?
I'll have that Tandoori, Mike you go for the dal puri, and Sheila can have the chef's special. Oh and 1 bottle of that special water from the river with overhanging toilets.
The logistics company thst BA uses has changed the hotel already!
Might be time to require the same as they do for in-flight meals (require pilots eat at different places during turnaround layovers).
It was the curry sushi in the lounge
The only safe departure country would be Mexico where food & beverage are pure safe and sanitary
"complaints about hygiene" in India? OMG!
From AI Overview on Google "British Airways flight crews on layover in Hyderabad typically stay at the ITC Kakatiya, a Luxury Collection Hotel located in the Begumpet area.However, the airline is actively reviewing its crew accommodation in the city following reports that three pilots suffered severe food poisoning after consuming breakfast at the hotel prior to an overnight flight to London Heathrow"
Wonder if any of the F/A's had similar problems ? It would be logical that at least some of them also ate brekkie at the hotel lounge as well.
Maybe bring some samples from the hotel back to LHR for the BA hotel selection staff to enjoy !
It's wild how airlines always claim that safety wasn't compromised as long as the aircraft didn't actually crash. They were down a pilot so the other two pilots were more fatigued and struggling not to shit themselves. Of course safety was at least partially compromised.
A bit of common sense goes a long way in preventing food poisonings in unsafe places. It's not that hard - sanitize your hands, stay away from salads, non-bottled water and anything that is not steaming hot.
That word 'common sense' means nothing now, because, well *gestures broadly* most of the folks using it regularly have none. 'Better sense' would be what you suggested. Also, pack Imodium.
"It's okay, I speak jive"
"Cut me some slack, Jack! Chump don' want no help, chump don't GET da help!"
No one from Texas would eat a taco in India or Mexico .
I will not go into the details but I have seen people from Texas eating a lot of funny foods all around the world…. and knowing what people from the USA see as healthy food. give me tacos in Mexico over a McRib every time
And yes, been to India and Mexico, no problems.
Do I sense some racism here
Millions of Texans eats tacos in Mexico every year!
I'm guessing some of the routing took them around conflict areas like Ukraine and Middle East. Still, there have to have been plenty of diversion points along the way. Seems kind of reckless they didn't declare an emergency and diverted. Any guesses why they didn't?
My guess is that Passengers and Crew would not like Karachi or Riyadh .
@Alert: When you are a Foreigner and you get Food poisoning in India, you go to a Hospital for Medical care,But if you are a Female, you will get Gang Raped by the Hospital Staff. look it up.
The female pilot told the affected male pilot : "You need to taste this ! It is sooo good !"
Food in Delhi , India is surprising similar to food in Bogota , Mexico , or food in Karachi , China .
I'm not sure which I love more, your comments or you.
Never change.
Hi Ben,
Sorry for my previous entry there's some typos andI tried first to write it on my phone but that didn't work so I copied and pasted the text and there's some repetitive stuff about Bogota. Maybe you can edit it please? A friend sent me your blog- it's really interesting and it looks like you've been doing this for awhile! Cool.
This is very unfortunate. Especially since it occurred inflight. I used to love doing flights to DEL because we would operate first to LHR & layover for 24 hours then to DEL for 24 or 48 hrs then back to LHR for another 24 hours then back to YYZ. This was back in the 90’s! I was new to the airline and it was so exciting to be away for a whole week with the...
This is very unfortunate. Especially since it occurred inflight. I used to love doing flights to DEL because we would operate first to LHR & layover for 24 hours then to DEL for 24 or 48 hrs then back to LHR for another 24 hours then back to YYZ. This was back in the 90’s! I was new to the airline and it was so exciting to be away for a whole week with the same crew- I actually felt a bit sad once we arrived back in Toronto after my first trip ever because that meant it was over and I was so junior I knew I’d probably never get another trip to India unless by luck on reserve. So over the course of my 30 years I went there at the start of my career 8 times- and now the relevant fact comes into play - which is the reason I never went back: on the last trip from DEL to LHR I was fine and that was a long flight… I remember checking into the hotel with the crew , going to bed and waking up and I was violently ill!! I had never been that sick in my life. Fortunately I called reception and they sent a doctor to the hotel and I guess I notified my in-charge and that’s the part that I really remember and appreciate-because people from my crew were concerned and called me and dropped off some things like Ribena and I think Imodium you know they knew how awful this what is called “ Delhi Belly “ could be so they wanted to help me. I had to book off the flight home and I came back dead -heading a day or so later but I never bid or picked another DEL since that awful episode! Don’t get me wrong I loved the country and the people and the whole experience of being gone for a week but that awful food poisoning just had such an impact on me I never wanted to go through that again! Thank goodness it didn’t happen inflight like for these pilots. I don’t know the source of it… I was always careful eating there anyways and I don’t like spicy food. No one else on my crew was sick from that flight that I know of.
Fast forward to another similar incident in Bogotá probably 15 years later which I know for sure was from consuming know for sure was from consuming the seafood pasta at the hotel’s resteraunt for lunch mid day and our flight left that night - it was a 6.5 hour trip home to YYZ and I had brought my boyfriend every since it was a 3 day layover. Well let me tell you it was a replay of Delhi and my poor boyfriend was caught off guard when I started throwing up in the hotel room not too long after our lunch together. So again I called the front desk and this time they sent these Ambulance paramedics and they brought pedialyte and I think they wanted to give me a shot of some kind. I told them nicely that I appreciated their concern but I wasn’t interested in either. I was very strict about my diet and didn’t want to consume all the glucose in the electrolyte drink. I know they were well intentioned! The funniest part of this is 2 months later I received a letter ( in Spanish which I had to translate!) from the hotel and it seemed they had sent all the seafood pasta ingredients to a lab for testing so there were essentially reporting back to me that everything was in order and I guess they were worried I might try to sue them. That thought had never crossed my mind! My reason for calling them in the first place was to tell them I was so sick right after my meal and to please alert the kitchen so that no one else might suffer the same fate. I was diplomatic about it. I did get some sleep and once I got that out my system I was feeling a bit better. I did operate my flight home which was maybe not a great idea but I got through it -it was a night flight. I wouldn’t have done it if I couldn’t. I just wanted to get home. So I’m sure many flight attendants and pilots have their own stories of this kind of situation. You try your best to stay healthy because you have to to be a flight attendant and pilot but sometimes these things do happen and it’s awful especially at 38,000 ft I wouldn’t wish that on anyone - crew or passengers!
If you switched to an alcohol lunch , you would not have this problem .
These guys were in Hyderabad, have a look at the map. And yes I have heard that McD, KFC and BK sell pretty much the same food in all those countries. Otherwise claiming Mexican and Indian food is pretty similar leaves me with the strong suspicion you simply do not know
" I bet it was because - girl food . "
-Alert, who is 11 years-old
Never never eat any sort of food in India , girl food or not . Bring your own food backpack .
Many years ago BA had a pilot who got sick every time he went to India.
We had to create a special rule in the planning and tracking systems to make sure that he didn't get assigned any trips to India.
Was there any blowback from some other pilots, implying favoritism or was this a medically documented and excusable policy ?
All three pilots?? Shirley you can't be serious...
I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.
LOL, I have to rewatch Airplane! soon. And for those who may not understand the nuances of the English language...he actually said "Surely you can't be serious" but "Surely" and "Shirley" sound similar hence the joke that he heard "Shirley" instead of "Surely".
And he had a 'surly' attitude when he was delivering that statement ! .. lol
"Samples"
Yum
About 300 years late mate. The brits should have never gone to Asia to colonize and loot their natural resources and engage in slavery.
Airplane! was a parody of the earlier movie, "Zero Hour", based on the same idea of the flight crew getting sick from eating the same bad food.
Ok, so what worries me more is with 3 pilots sick (incl. one completely on oxygen), why did not the flight seek emergency landing? Isn't that endangering the passengers? Wondering about the protocol in these situations as it seems the other 2 pilots then felt comfortable enough flying 8-10 hours (food poisoning usually manifests in a couple of hours at max so that's a LOT of time).
Was Dave S right all along?
I mean food safety concerns have always been a serious problem in India.
It's more about how you talk about them, staying factual and not demeaning.
Hope everyone can recover safely.
The only reasonable hotel near HYD airport is the Novotel, assuming that's where they stayed.
I stayed there a couple of years back and got a bad case of food poisoning from their breakfast buffet. Perhaps a suss hotel.
What’s with the new checkbox agreeing to spam before posting a comment? Seems kind of pointless, no? I mean, does anyone ever use a real email address?
OMAAT desperate times.
Now without Tiffany.
+1 .. A tad disappointing with the automatic default to opt-in catching one off guard...
And just when I thought I was getting over those extremely obnoxious adverts that take over & obliterate your whole screen... Am amazed that any business would think I'd be interested in their product after such blimey tactics .... Oh well ... First world 'problems' ! .. :(
This is what happens if you order oysters in Hyderabad…
Well, they weren't Hydera-good, that's for sure.
Hotel name?
It was The Foodborne Illness Inn.
I checked it on the internet, so I'm now an expert on all things food poisoning, as well as an epidemiologist.
Just one hotel is suspect there ? ...lol
If all 3 pilots were unwell and none of the passengers were impacted than its not the food. Most likely the BA crew had a great time at the bar the previous night.
I wonder if they checked their alcohol levels. If i was a passenger on that flight, i sure would want the airline to explain if the crew were all drunk and if the flight should have operated at all.
Can you READ?? Article says it was the Indian hotel lounge breakfast!! No mention of plane food or alcohol anywhere!!
I missed that, maybe did not load fast enough while i first read the article. Thanks for letting me know.
But I am still not buying it. So no one at the hotel got sick except these 3 pilots ? Just defies logic. I wont be surprised if these 3 were having a jolly ole good time at the hotel bar.
"So no one at the hotel got sick except these 3 pilots ? Just defies logic. "
Where do you see anything about "no one else at the hotel"??
Or better yet: why do you just make stuff up? You did it twice in the span of 2 posts.
If a lot more people got sick it would be national news. There is no such news. I checked.
BA might be just trying to avoid reporting a second drunk crew incident in one month.
"If a lot more people got sick it would be national news. There is no such news."
So you see nothing in the actual print, and jump to a conclusion.
Then you make a blatant assumption, and jump to a conclusion based on the ABSENCE of that assumptive property.
Um, do you see why people are telling you that maybe you're kind of -- stupid? :(
When people are reduced to making personal attacks, you know they do not have any point of substance to make.
You’re an imbecile. Try reading before making false accusations.
Yes, I remember, I had the lasagna.
Next do Dave Stafford, to make a really racist remark.
Or, you've been just doing Alert to keep it very dim.
What happened to Aero, old chap?
1990, online all day and night. Every week and weekend. So sad.
Santos, 'Dim Tunn,' Dave, Alert, and Aero, may be by the same person (or not), and occasionally some does appear to be imitating others on here at times, but I assure you, I only use the '1990' handle for my comments here and at VFTW, LALF, etc. You don't have to believe me; and you also don't have to engage with comments you don't like. Or do. You do you.
uh dude you realize that's a quote from the movie Airplane! correct?
I do; not sure Santos did, though. I guess he picked the wrong week to quit huffing glue.