Gulf War Flight BA149 Hostages Want the ‘Truth’

Saddam Hussein took passengers of British Airways flight BA149 hostage on August 2, 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Now, more than 30 years later, the “human shield” hostages are taking the UK government and the airline to court. They want the “truth”. 

There were more than 300 people onboard that ill-fated flight bound from London’s Heathrow Airport for Malaysia, with two stopovers in Kuwait and Madras (now Chennai – India). Flight BA149 landed in Kuwait, not knowing that a Gulf War was breaking out. 

What Happened that Day?

The British Airways flight arrived at Kuwait International Airport. Flight BA149 was airborne when the Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait. The airline and the flight was unaware of what was happening on the ground. As its first scheduled stop, it touched down at 1am at the Kuwait International Airport. Other airlines had somehow diverted their flights 

Anthony Paice, a British official who was posted in Kuwait at that time, said he had a word with a representative of British Airways on the evening of August 1, but before the invasion. He had said if an airplane was going through at midnight, that it would probably get through. But Paice highlighted he had warned of an invasion and it was not admissible for an aircraft to land at the same time. But British Airways claims it was advised by the British embassy in Kuwait that the situation was normal, and no reason for the flight not to go ahead. 

A businessman, Barry Manners, who was on Flight BA149 said passengers were taken as human shields. In a 2021 interview, he revealed that he was threatened at gunpoint. The invaders bombed the Kuwaiti airport. The battle was mainly fought in the air, wherein thousands of Iraqi soldiers were killed and captured. 

As for the passengers, women and children were let go in late August 1990, but the remaining hostages were used as human shields and released with the airline’s crew in December 1990. 

Rumors

The British government, over the years, has denied using flight BA149 as de facto military transport. Lawyers, representing the hostages, say there’s evidence that the British government and the airline knew the invasion had already begun when the plane was allowed to land in Kuwait. They allege flight BA149 was being used to insert “an intelligence team” into Kuwait for a special military operation. 

However, this has been rejected by both the government and the British Airways. The former human shield hostages want the government to clean and tell them the truth. They recall eight mysterious men wearing sports clothes get on board after all the other passengers were seated. 

The former hostages said they knew they were soldiers.