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British Airways is fighting a High Court case brought by passengers and crew members who were held hostage when one of the planes landed in Kuwait when Iraq invaded the country at the start of the Gulf War in 1990.
Dozens of individuals on Board Flight BA149 are suing the airline claiming they have allowed the aircraft to land despite warnings that an invasion is imminent.
“In the course of being held hostage, one or more claimants were exposed to inhumane treatment and assault, including cases of sexual assault, rape, mock executions and other forms of torture and abuse.”
More than 100 claimants, including passengers, crew members and the property of several deceased people, are listed in the court application system as having filed claims against both the UK government and the airline last year.
They accused the BA of acting “at concert” with the British government by agreeing to secretly carry spies on the flight’s intelligence news mission and agreeing to target them in Iraq.
The BA, part of the International Airlines Group, denied liability, and the legal paper details its strong defense.
The airline legal team led by David Platt KC described the claim as “abuse of the process.” The defense application said that although the passenger’s claims were too late, members of the crew had previously accepted settlement payments from the airline.
Claimants, represented by Anne Studd KC, have filed a lawsuit against negligence and misconduct in public office. Their lawsuit alleged that around eight passengers on the flight from London’s Heathrow were “military or paramilitary personnel” of the secret intelligence news mission.
The lawsuit allegedly members of the group, part of the British Special Forces’ suspected unit known as “Incremental,” were not listed in the flight manifesto that recorded passengers, but the captain claimed they knew of their existence.
Stud allegedly advised the BA manager specifically to allow flights to land after midnight on August 2, 1990.
BA149 landed around 4:15am local time, and the claimant said it was “the only flight to land in Kuwait City since midnight.”
In its submission, the BA said it had taken reasonable steps to ensure the safety of those on board and that it was not said that Iraqi forces had crossed the border before the flight had landed.
It denies being a party to the “increment” agreement or having knowledge of a questionable spy. It also denied that British officials advised not to allow flights. “There was no such conversation,” the BA lawyer wrote.
The defense filing argued that passenger claims will change time under two-year restrictions set forth by the Warsaw Treaty, which controls the liability of the airline.
The employee also previously said he had accepted payments of between £3,000 and £15,000 in a “complete and final settlement” as “consequences of defensive experiences related to BA-149 and detention/detention in Kuwait and Iraq.”
“The claimants who enter into these agreements are infringing their rights and their claims here are an abuse of the process and should be revoked,” the filing said.
The BA also said the lawsuit had previously failed in England, France and Texas.
Court records showed that defense documents from the Cabinet Office, Foreign, Federal, Development Bureau and the Ministry of Defense were filed on Friday but were not immediately made public.
The UK government declined to comment.
