A traffic cone caused a two-hour delay for British Airways passengers at Aberdeen Airport in Scotland on Thursday night.
The cone was blown underneath the aircraft where it became wedged during boarding, according to a British Airways spokeswoman.
Apparently, the added weight of passengers and luggage had caused the plane to sink onto the traffic cone, and it became wedged near the engine. Once the source of the problem was discovered, everything and everyone were unloaded from the Airbus A319, and crews removed the cone.
Joe Churcher, whose girlfriend was reportedly on the flight, tweeted about the incident.
BA flight grounded - by a traffic cone! Weight of passengers and luggage apparently dropped plane onto misplaced cone which damaged engine,— Joe Churcher (@JoeChurcher) January 14, 2016
This is plane that was impaled by cone (now removed). Passengers have disembarked. No info on whether will still fly pic.twitter.com/0jfRFIg6DS— Joe Churcher (@JoeChurcher) January 14, 2016
Passengers were told that the cone had only made a small dent in the aircraft that "popped back out." The plane was cleared to fly to London Heathrow airport after a two hour delay.
"The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority," British Airways said in a statement. "Our highly trained engineers inspected the aircraft before it continued on its journey. We are sorry for the delay to customers’ travel plans."a
Ground staff taking no chances this time - cones under close guard as passengers get back on the plane. pic.twitter.com/ROoo714Yp2— Joe Churcher (@JoeChurcher) January 14, 2016