09 February 2024 , 14:45
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A British Airways plane was stopped from taking off because its seat cushions were too thick and wide.
Italian aviation officials took issue with the slightly comfier looking seats during a surprise inspection of the BA flight from Milan to London Heathrow on Monday. After taking a long, hard look at the padded stool covers, they concluded that the Airbus A320neo aircraft had the wrong kind of seat cushions.
The seats in question were located in the overwing exit rows, which tend to be less pronounced to create more space in the event of an evacuation, View From the Wing reports.
Because the aircraft did not have the right cushions, it was unable to fly. One passenger who had been due to travel on the flight posted a video of bemused customers who had just been told the reason why they couldn't take off.
In the clip a flight attendant can be heard asking customers to have a look for the correct cushions before reading out serial numbers of the correct seats.
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"Basically, they [British Airways] had standard seat cushions in emergency rows; they need to have short ones in case of an emergency," the TikTok user claimed. "So we are checking under the seats in case they are somewhere else. If we can’t find them, if we can’t find 12, we need to disembark and we are not safe to fly".
After a little searching around, one passenger managed to find the right cushions which were then swapped in, meaning the plane could fly. It took off after a delay of just one hour.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: "There was a short delay to this flight due to an inspection and we've apologised to our customers for the disruption to their journeys."
Airlines are required to follow strict regulations when it comes to seat layout, which is one of the main limiting factors when it comes to redesigning how the classic plane cabin looks.
A recent design proposal for economy seats raised eyebrows last year and left people divided over how comfortable it could make the journey.
Entrepreneur Alejandro Núñez Vicente caused quite the stir after he unveiled a prototype for a double decker plane layout at the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg, Germany.
In the prototype, seats are spaced out with top and bottom rows instead of all being the same level, with the idea being that it would give passengers more leg room and space than current configurations.
The model has been dubbed the Chaise Longue dual-level airplane cabin. The new layout would mean no overhead cabins, with storage between the rows instead. In an Instagram post showcasing the prototype Alejandro Núñez Vicente said he wants to "make the economy class better for all those travellers that can't afford more expensive tickets".
Whether or not you like the design, it will likely be quite a while before it is given the green light by the official bodies in charge.