It seems there are still new ways for airliners to be delayed as Qatar Airways passengers headed to Doha, Qatar, from Birmingham, England, found on Tuesday. The flight was delayed more than four hours as firefighters worked to free the pilot and several cabin crew from a stuck elevator. The delay caused numerous passengers to miss connections to places like New Zealand and Australia.
The flight was supposed to leave at 7:45 a.m. and the crew was in plenty of time for the flight, so they thought. The elevator (it’s unclear if it was at the airport or their hotel) trapped them at about 6 a.m. and it took firefighters until 9:30 a.m. to free them. The plane left about 11:40 a.m. Doha is a popular interim destination for Europeans headed to Asia and the South Pacific, and passengers told local media that almost all onboard had connections to make in Doha.
A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the airline involved. We regret the error.
