Chaos at Heathrow T5 during recent bomb alert
27.03.11
‘Chaos’ delayed the mass evacuation of Heathrow Terminal Five amid fears of a terrorist attack earlier this month, the Telegraph reports. The incident was sparked by a hoax 999 call claiming a bomber was planning to set off an explosive device in the airport. The newspaper says 'an apparent lack of preparation at the terminal, which is only used by British Airways, also led to disarray during evacuation with staff in the departures area unclear about how to exit the building and where to go once they had.'
Senior British Airways managers have launched an urgent investigation into what went wrong at the terminal. An airport security source told the newspaper: ‘There was a lack of leadership, direction and control. It was a hoax but the lack of preparedness would have been a disaster if a real attack had taken place. What is really disturbing is that when the order to evacuate was given those who should have put the emergency plan into effect appeared to have no idea what to do.’
A senior British Airways source at the terminal added: ‘In the end staff and passengers were led down the traffic ramps from the departure level to the ground level. There was no designated rendezvous point and none knew where they were going or what to do.’
The incident led to huge numbers of BA staff complaining of ‘poor organisation’ to Vicki O'Brien, the airline's head of Customer Service at Heathrow. Last week she circulated an email apologising for the incident and telling staff she ‘shared their concerns’. Andrew Lord, the airline's Director of Operations, has now been called in to carry out an investigation into what went wrong.
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