Passengers stuck on British Airways plane for three hours without water and told to light the cabin with their PHONES to preserve power
Desperate travellers were eventually taken to a hotel at 2am - with only some managing to get on a flight to London the next day
TRAVELLERS flying from Athens to London Heathrow were forced to sit on the delayed plane for more than three hours - with the frustrated flyers even asked to use their phones to light the cabin to help the plane save power.
People, including families with young children, booked on the British Airways flight were made to sit on the tarmac in the un-airconditioned plane for hours on Monday night before the flight was ultimately cancelled.
Exhausted travellers, who were meant to fly out about 7.50pm on Monday on the BA633 flight, ultimately made it to accommodation in Athens about 2am after the nightmare.
London local Michael West said the passengers were immediately struck with how "incredibly hot" the aircraft was as they waited to leave, with the air-conditioning only able to work when the engines were on.
He told The Sun Online: "Over the course of the next two hours, the plane lost power about three or four times.
"The excuse we were given was that we weren't getting enough power from the airport... and that was also why the air-conditioning wasn't working."
He said the captain of the aircraft even powered down the cabin lights, including the emergency exit lights, in an attempt to save the plane's auxiliary power.
Mr West, 38, said: "He said to switch on the torches on your smart phone while the plane is in darkness so cabin crew can walk around and see."
He said the plane eventually pushed back, only for the passengers to be told the plane's computers had broken down and needed to be fixed.
Mr West, who lives in Wimbledon, said: "At this point the passengers were beginning to get irate because up until that point, the airline hadn't offered any water, juice or any food. There were people on the plane with children and it was very uncomfortable."
He said the passengers were eventually shepherded onto a bus and back into the airport, where they were abandoned by British Airways staff before they were finally taken to a hotel for the night.
But even then, the breakdown in communication with passengers waking up in the morning to no news, despite a promise that a piece of paper would be shoved through the bottom of the door to give an update.
Mr West is now booked to come home on the same flight 24 hours later, but said he was disappointed with the lack of service.
He said: "You hear about these horror stories and you hear about it with Ryan Air and EasyJet - you pay a budget fare with a budget airline so you can expect budget service.
"But this was entirely unacceptable."
Edward O'Shea told The Sun Online he could not believe the delays and lack of organisation on the part of British Airways.
He said: "It was very frustrating, it was unbelievable."
He said: "We were just stranded basically. They did end up cancelling it but we sat on the plane for three and a half hours with no food or drink offered until we asked.
"I'm with my wife but there were children on board and there was no air-conditioning or anything."
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He said he was one of the lucky travellers, managing to get on a flight back to London on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr O'Shea said: "I think about 100 people were left behind from the flight.
"The whole thing wasn't very organised, no one knew what was going on."
He said travellers had been told the ultimate cancellation of the flight had been due to a technical issue - but slammed the lack of communication.
He said: "We had to battle with the airline to get information - it will be nice to get home."
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Other travellers took to social media to vent about the cancelled flight, with Arlene Phillips, a former judge on the show Strictly Come Dancing and So You Think You Can Dance, tweeting her concern about her daughter who was stuck on the flight.
She said: "Please tell me what is happening to your Athens flight. My daughter has been stuck on it for three and a half hours"
She later shared her frustration at finding out the travellers would not be able to make it home until at least Tuesday.
Another woman travelling from Athens said it was "the worst experience ever".
She wrote: "this is the worst experience ever! Flight 633 step it up with the customer service please! Hot plane! no water 3 1/2 hours".
Alana Phillips also took to Twitter, saying: "been sat on the tarmac at Athens for 3hrs now, either sort the plane out, let us off or get another one this is awful".
Others have desperately asked for compensation from the airline after being forced to miss their work.
Others thanked British Airways staff for making the delayed flight "far more bearable".
British Airways told The Sun Online: "We took care of our customers and offered them overnight hotel accommodation after our flight was cancelled due to a technical fault.
"We are very sorry for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers is always our highest priority."
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