Flight attendant mistakenly opens emergency door

A British Airways flight attendant who worked his first day at the company accidentally activated the emergency slide when he opened the door while the plane was in motion on the ground - an action that cost the airline 50,000 pounds.

The flight attendant was working on his maiden flight BA75 from London to Lagos, Nigeria, when he opened the exit door on the Boeing 777 by accident, to everyone's surprise.

No real emergency

As a result, the emergency services rushed to surround the plane, before realizing that there wasn't a real emergency, but a mistake and the passengers were not evacuating.

The incident happened while the plane was being pushed from its parking position at Heathrow Airport, minutes away from takeoff last Friday.

After the incident the shocked passengers were told they faced a four-hour wait until take-off. Engineers were called to lift the emergency slide from the runway - but the plane still needed a new slide.

As a result, a replacement aircraft completed the flight with the same crew, only minus the rookie flight attendant, who was immediately replaced.

The distraught flight attendant, whose name is withheld by British website The Sun whom published the case, was sacked by furious British Airways bosses and ordered back to training.

The mistake cost the airline at least 50,000 pounds, after it missed its take-off slot, had to order a new slide and change the aircraft.