Passengers Sue UK Govt, British Airways Over 1990 Kuwait Hostage Incident

Passengers and crew of a British Airways flight, who were held hostage in Kuwait in 1990, have launched legal action against the UK government and the airline, as announced by a law firm on Monday.

The passengers and crew of BA flight 149 were captured when the plane landed in Kuwait on August 2, 1990, just hours after Iraqi forces, led by Saddam Hussein, invaded the country. This flight was en route to Kuala Lumpur.

Out of the 367 individuals on board, some were held captive for over four months, with some being used as human shields to deter Western attacks during the Gulf War.

Ninety-four of the hostages have filed a civil lawsuit at the High Court in London, alleging that the UK government and British Airways “deliberately endangered” their lives, said McCue Jury & Partners.

“All claimants suffered severe physical and psychiatric harm during their ordeal, with lasting impacts,” the law firm stated.

The lawsuit argues that both the UK government and the airline were aware of the invasion but permitted the flight to land regardless, supposedly to “insert a covert special ops team into occupied Kuwait.”

Barry Manners, a passenger on the flight and one of the claimants, remarked, “We were treated not as citizens but as expendable pawns for commercial and political gain.”

He believes that “a victory over years of cover-up and denial will help restore trust in our political and judicial system.”

British government documents, released in November 2021, indicated that the UK ambassador to Kuwait had informed London of an Iraqi incursion before the flight’s arrival, but the message was not relayed to British Airways.

Additionally, there have been allegations that the UK government knowingly risked passengers’ lives by using the flight to deploy covert operatives, delaying take-off to facilitate their boarding.

According to AFP, the government has denied these claims and refused to comment on the ongoing legal case.

British Airways has consistently denied accusations of negligence, conspiracy, and cover-up.

While the airline did not respond to AFP’s request for comment, it maintained last year that the 2021 records “confirmed British Airways was not warned about the invasion.”

McCue Jury & Partners, which announced in September its intention to file the lawsuit, stated that the hostages “may claim an estimated average of £170,000 ($213,000) each in damages.”

In 2003, a French court ordered British Airways to pay 1.67 million euros to the flight’s French hostages, ruling that the airline had “seriously failed in its obligations” by allowing the plane to land in Kuwait.