Paperwork Blunder: British Airways Flight to Germany Lands in Scotland

Passengers on a British Airways flight from London to Düsseldorf, Germany, were left aghast on Monday when their plane mistakenly landed in Scotland.

A blunder with paperwork seems to have been the problem: British Airways said a German company that had chartered the plane, WDL Aviation, had submitted the wrong route to air traffic controllers.

“We are working with WDL Aviation, who operated this flight on behalf of British Airways, to establish why the incorrect flight plan was filed,” British Airways said in a statement.

The flight, BA3271, which took off from London City Airport, did not seem to have been in any danger; because of the incorrect paperwork, the crew - including the pilot - and air traffic controllers had all apparently believed that Edinburgh was the plane’s intended destination.