G-AWND, the aircraft involved in the incident, seen in 1985
Occurrence
Date
2 August 1990 (1990-08-02)
Summary
Passengers and crew taken hostage hours after the Invasion of Kuwait
Site
Kuwait International Airport, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Aircraft
Aircraft type
Boeing 747-136
Aircraft name
Coniston Water
Operator
British Airways
Registration
G-AWND
Flight origin
London Heathrow Airport
1st stopover
Kuwait International Airport, Kuwait City
Last stopover
Madras International Airport, Madras
Destination
Subang International Airport, Kuala Lumpur
Occupants
385
Passengers
367
Crew
18
Fatalities
1
Survivors
384
British Airways Flight 149 was a flight from London Heathrow Airport to Subang International Airport (now Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport), then the international airport for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, via Kuwait and Madras International Airports, operated by British Airways using a Boeing 747-136, with registration G-AWND, on 2 August 1990.
Following the airliner's arrival at Kuwait International Airport, outside of Kuwait City, the flight was never resumed as a consequence of ongoing events on the ground. Prior to landing at Kuwait International, the neighbouring nation of Iraq had launched a full-scale invasion of Kuwait during the early hours of that morning. Within hours, elements of the Iraqi Army had rapidly advanced as far as Kuwait City and had taken control of the airport. Accordingly, the aircraft used to operate the flight, its passengers and its crew were all captured by the occupying Iraqi forces on the ground. Following their capture, the majority of the passengers and crew were initially detained at several nearby hotels along with other foreigners under armed guard. The airliner was later destroyed on the ground; the identity of those responsible for its destruction remains unknown.
During their detention, multiple passengers have alleged that they witnessed a number of atrocities performed by Iraqi forces and were subjected to abuse themselves. While women and children were offered the opportunity to return home during late August, the remaining detainees were dispersed to various sites in Iraq and Kuwait and were used by the Iraqis as human shields to deter offensive operations by opposing Coalition forces during the Gulf War. During one infamous incident, an Iraqi television broadcast showed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein alongside a number of the detainees as a part of wartime propaganda efforts. To secure their release, former British prime minister Edward Heath personally travelled to Baghdad to lead negotiations, which included direct talks between Heath and Saddam Hussein. One passenger from the manifest (a Kuwaiti citizen who had concluded his flight and disembarked the aircraft prior to BA 149's capture) was listed as having been killed by Iraqi troops while all remaining passengers were later released from their captivity following the conclusion of the conflict.[1][2][3] Many of the surviving detainees developed post-traumatic stress disorder after being released from captivity.[4]
BA 149 continues to be the subject of controversy and debate over whether the situation could have been averted, as well as accusations and conspiracy theories that the flight was used as a Trojan horse to transport undercover British military and intelligence personnel into Kuwait.[5] Several investigations have since been conducted into the incident, leading to official denials from Margaret Thatcher, Britain's Prime Minister at the time, of any government efforts to influence British Airways' actions in regard to Flight 149. On 23 November 2021, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss confirmed that the government of that time had misled British Airways and the public about a prior warning that was not passed on to the airline.
^Cite error: The named reference norm bak was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference BA14919920830 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Jane Bingham (1 November 2014). The Gulf Wars With Iraq. Capstone. pp. 36–. ISBN 978-1-4846-1077-0.
^"Gulf War 'human shields' hostages call for new inquiry". BBC News. 11 December 2020.
^"BA flight 149: Was it on a secret 'military intelligence mission'?". BBC News. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
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