Hundreds of passengers delayed after pilot and crew stuck in lift at Birmingham Airport

Hundreds of passengers were delayed after a flight crew, including the pilot, were stuck in a lift at Birmingham Airport for more than three hours.

Firefighters had to be called to free the team, who were stranded from 6am until just before 9:30am today.

The flight, which was supposed to take off at 7:45am to Qatar, was grounded with passengers forced out of the boarding area while they awaited an update.

One passenger expecting to get on the flight called it a "shambles" and said there was a "massive queue" for meal tickets offered by the airline.

They said: "We're just waiting now for a meal ticket which will be about £8 but it costs about £4.50 for a Costa Coffee.

"If the pilot has been stuck in there for so long, he may not even be in a fit state to fly, apparently he’s still in there. It’s some story isn’t it, you couldn’t make it up!"

Doha, Qatar where passengers were flying to, is often a connection for those travelling on to Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

However, now those passengers face uncertainty as the plane will now arrive in Qatar at 8:39pm, more than three hours after its scheduled arrival.

A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said: "At 6am today, airline crew members reported becoming stuck in one of our temporary lifts"."With our lift contractor unable to reactivate the lift system, West Midlands fire service removed a panel to allow the crew out just before 9.30am. We are very sorry to airline crew members and customers affected by this".

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