![Passengers asked to leave Loganair flight as plane too heavy to fly [Image Kolforn/Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2019/12/27/660x290/b_502x220x82/passengers-asked-to-leave-loganair-flight-as-plane-too-heavy-to-fly-image-kolfornwikimedia-commons_2374861.jpg "Passengers asked to leave Loganair flight as plane too heavy to fly [Image Kolforn/Wikimedia Commons]")
Many people have found themselves stuck next to an overweight passenger on a flight and having no “elbow-room.” However, this particular pre-Christmas flight wasn’t being prejudicial to overweight passengers, as other reasons caused the flight to be delayed.
Plane too heavy to take off
As reported by Aviation Pros, the Loganair flight from London Southend Airport to Derry in Northern Ireland on Saturday left late, after five passengers were asked to disembark, as the plane was reportedly “too heavy” to take off and fly.
The flight was Loganair LM 462 and one of the Independent’s journalists was on the flight with his husband Dom.
The couple confirmed that five passengers had been asked to leave the flight so it could take off in safety.
Very disappointing situation @SouthendAirport with @FlyLoganair. My flight to Derry has about 50 people on it and now we’re told it’s too heavy and 5 people are being asked to get off the flight so it can leave. No one is volunteering...
— Ben Kelly (@BenKellyTweets) December 21, 2019
In a tweet, Kelly said passengers that had been asked to disembark would have to Travel to another London airport and fly to Belfast, a 1.5-2-hour drive from Derry. According to Kelly, he paid £200 ($261) for a one-way ticket. He said three of the passengers agreed to leave the flight and go to Birmingham for a different flight to Derry.
The other two passengers were reportedly asked to disembark because they were last to check in for the flight.
Loganair flight left 3 hours late
Jonathan Hinkles is the chief executive for the Scottish airline and said in a statement to the Independent that the main reason for the flight’s delay was bad weather in Derry. Hinkles said if the plane had left on time, it would have been asked to divert to Belfast.
Hinkles went on to say that when the weather did clear up in Derry, there was a combination of rainfall and low pressure in Southend, which left the runway in a condition that could endanger the flight. This condition forced the airline to impose a weight limitation on the flight and to ask the five passengers to leave. The flight reportedly ended up taking off three hours later, arriving in Derry at around 1:30 pm.
Passengers receive compensation
Hinkles continued by saying five of their customers had volunteered to fly on another routing, the full cost of which would be covered by the airline, plus each passenger was given €250 ($278) as compensation for the inconvenience.
The statement went on to apologize to all passengers for the delays but stressed that the choice was “appropriate“ in the circumstances, but did result in all passengers arriving at Derry as soon as was possible.
The Independent noted another incident on a flight, but this time with a pet being overweight, rather than a human. The story was reported in November of an Aeroflot passenger who tried his best to take his overweight cat in the cabin of the flight and almost succeeded. However, the airline’s rules say pets that weigh more than eight kg have to be placed in the hold during the flight.
