Passengers and crew on a British Airways plane taken hostage in Kuwait in 1990 have begun legal action against the British government and the airline, a law firm said on Monday.
On August 2 that year, passengers on Flight 149 bound for Kuala Lumpur were taken off when the plane landed in the Gulf nation, just hours after Iraq’s then leader Saddam Hussein invaded the country.
The 367 passengers and some crew members spent more than four months as hostages, including time as human shields against Western attacks on the Iraqi dictator’s forces during the first Gulf War.
McCue Jury & Partners said 94 of them have filed a civil claim in London’s High Court, accusing the UK government and BA of “knowingly endangering” citizens.
“All claimants suffered serious physical and mental harm during this ordeal, the consequences of which are still felt today,” the law firm said.
The action claims the UK government and airline “knew the attack had begun” but still allowed the plane to land.
The company said they did so because the flight was used to “transport a covert special operations team into occupied Kuwait”.
“We were not treated as citizens, but as pawns to be used for commercial and political gain,” said Barry Manners, who was on the plane and is taking part in the claim.
“This victory over years of cover-ups and blatant denials will help restore faith in our political and judicial process,” he said.
British government files released in November 2021 showed that the UK ambassador to Kuwait had informed London of reports of an Iraqi incursion before the flight landed, but that the message was not passed on to BA.
There have also been claims, denied by the government, that London deliberately put passengers at risk by placing spies on the plane and delaying the flight to allow them to board.
The British government declined to comment on ongoing legal cases.
British Airways has always denied allegations of negligence, conspiracy and a cover-up.
The airline did not respond to AFP’s request for comment, but said last year that records released in 2021 confirmed “British Airways was not warned about the invasion”.
McCue Jury & Partners announced its intention to file the suit in September, saying then that the hostages “could be seeking damages of an average of £170,000 ($213,000) each”.
In 2003, a French court ordered BA to pay 1.67 million euros to the aircraft’s French hostages, stating that it had “seriously failed to fulfil its obligations” to them by landing the aircraft.
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