‘Mayhem in the terminal’: Qantas flight leaves Aussies stranded in Heathrow

An Australian passenger has detailed 24 hours of frustration after a diverted Qantas flight left him stranded in London.

Passengers on-board a Qantas flight from London to Singapore were left feeling a sense of “simmering fury” after they were diverted back to Heathrow, and left stranded for at least 24 hours.

On Friday evening BST, QF2 was scheduled to depart Heathrow Airport for a non-stop 13 hour and 20 minute journey to Singapore Changi airport.

However, pilots were forced to turn the plane around two hours into the journey while flying near Hungary due to technical issues understood to be associated with the aircraft’s navigation system.

“There was notification from the captain that we‘d be turning back to London,” an Australian passenger on-board the flight told news.com.au.

The flight path QF2 was taking before it was forced to turn around two hours into the flight. Picture: Flight Aware

“He said there was an issue with the navigational equipment (and explained we’ve) got three navigational devices on board and two had already failed.

“GPS doesn’t work in some areas over the Middle East … so (the pilot said) ‘Look I’m not happy to carry on with that so we’ll go back to London’.”

Upon arriving back in London, the Sydney man – who didn’t wish to be named – explained he and his fellow commuters were left grounded on the tarmac for two hours unable to disembark the plane.

It’s understood there was minimal staff at the airport to assist with baggage or security, with passengers eventually let off the plane “section by section” some time later.

“From that point on, it was kind of really unclear as to what we were doing,” the passenger explained.

Once all travellers made it inside the airport, it’s understood they started waiting by a carousel for their luggage – only to be told they wouldn’t be receiving their bags.

Passengers were left stranded at Heathrow Airport after their plane was diverted due to a technical issue. Picture: Supplied

Most passengers were left without luggage for several days. Picture: Supplied

They were then informed they could spend some time in a hotel, before returning to the airport for another flight later that morning.

“This is where it started falling apart for me, like it’s fair enough that it was all disjointed and inconvenient, but it was the middle of the night,” the Sydney man said.

The passenger took up Qantas’ offer to stay at a hotel for a few hours before returning to the airport at 11am BST after receiving a text his flight had been rescheduled.

But when he went to check in, he saw the flight had been delayed until 9.55pm that night.

“I was directed to talk to the manager and just got zero (help) … there was no other assistance, they didn’t offer vouchers for food or anything else,” he said.

“She said ‘if you can find your own hotel, just keep the receipts’ and so I was like okay, this is round two of what to do when you‘re left stranded.”

In an attempt to make the best of a bad situation, the passenger booked a ticket to watch Mission Impossible at the cinema, however he was so tired he ended up leaving the film early and paid $500 to spend a couple more hours in a new hotel to get some sleep and freshen up.

Qantas communicated with guests via text. Picture: Supplied

However, the Sydney passenger claims he wasn't informed that the flight had been rescheduled to after 9pm. Picture: Supplied

By this time, almost 10 hours had passed and he and his fellow passengers were still without their luggage.

“When I came back to the airport for round three, we had further delays from there and the crowd definitely was starting to ark up at each announcement,” he said.

The passenger claims there was booing and heckling after travellers found out a catering and fuel issue would delay their flight again.

“I yelled out ‘do your f**king jobs’, the mob mentality was starting to kick in. How many delays can there be for people you’ve already put out for this long?” he said.

Eventually, the passengers made it on their flight from London to Singapore, before the Sydney customer managed to get on a Singapore to Sydney flight without issue. He arrived home on Monday morning.

Looking back at the experience, the Sydney man said other passengers had it a lot worse, with some families remaining at the airport for the entire full-day delay.

“There were people there … who spent 24 hours plus in the terminal. Some people have lounge access, but not everyone obviously so they were literally just sitting on seats and trying to charge their phones,” he said.

“I was impressed with some of the parents who waited with kids … because on the surface they seemed the calmest.”

Qantas said it would compensate customers for their hotel stays following the incident. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Other passengers channelled the Sydney man’s fury, taking to Twitter to vent their frustrations over the “madness”.

“We‘re still stuck here. After the first full day delay, tonight’s attempt has faced an hour delay due to no catering and now they’ve just realised they forgot to fuel the plane … Was mayhem in the terminal,” one person said.

“Drama? The fact that it returned to Heathrow rather than diverting to somewhere closer to where it was shows that the crew had no concern for its in-flight safety,” another person added.

A third person tweeted: “Terminal of customers absolutely furious, tempers flaring. Lack of Qantas support and comms on the ground is the worst seen”.

Qantas confirmed the flight returned to Heathrow due to a mechanical issue that needed to be checked by engineers, with London the preferred option due to the engineering support available at the airport.

Passengers were provided hotel accommodation or offered reimbursement if they booked their own accommodation. It’s understood the airline also reimburses meals and reasonable expenses like transport to and from the airport.

The A380 was checked by engineers before the flight was able to take off the next day.

The Sydney passenger said he would have appreciated more support from staff at the airport. Picture: Justin Tallis / AFP

While the Sydney passenger understands faults happen, it was the “lack of care” from staff that made him feel the “angriest (he’s) ever been”.

“We were deprived of sleep and we’ve been in our clothes for three days by the time we got back (to Sydney) and just the level of no one seemed to care or try to do anything about it. that rubbed me the wrong way,” he said.

“I was pretty p*ssed off, it was just like there was no level of support.”

Qantas didn’t comment on why customers only received their luggage once they arrived in Singapore or respond to feedback it received from passengers.