The British Airways is facing a renewed legal challenge in the High Court in London over its controversial decision to allow flight BA149 to land in Kuwait on August 2, 1990 — coinciding with the onset of the Iraqi invasion.
According to a report by The Financial Times, a group of passengers and crew members who were on board the ill-fated flight have filed a class-action lawsuit against the airline, seeking justice more than three decades after the incident.
The plaintiffs argue that British Airways was negligent in allowing the flight to proceed despite clear warnings of an imminent Iraqi military incursion into Kuwait. As a result, the plane was seized shortly after landing at Kuwait International Airport, and those on board were taken hostage by Iraqi forces.
The lawsuit includes allegations of inhumane treatment, claiming that some of the hostages were subjected to torture, mock executions, assault, and psychological abuse while in captivity.
Furthermore, the legal complaint accuses the airline of colluding with the British government by enabling British intelligence personnel —reportedly members of the elite “Increment” special forces unit — to use the civilian flight as cover for a covert mission to Iraq via Kuwait.
Lawyer Anne Stead, representing the plaintiffs, argued that the presence of these covert operatives—who allegedly were not listed on the flight manifest—made all passengers vulnerable targets for Iraqi forces.
She further claimed that a British official in Kuwait had explicitly advised British Airways not to land any flights in the country after midnight on August 2, yet flight BA149 landed at 4:15 a.m., making it the only plane to land in Kuwait City after the invasion had begun.
British Airways, now part of the International Airlines Group (IAG), has denied all allegations. The company’s legal counsel, led by attorney David Platt, has described the lawsuit as “an unjustified abuse of judicial process.”
Their defense also states that the claims are statute-barred due to the time elapsed and notes that some crew members have previously accepted financial settlements, implying prior resolution.
In official court documents, the airline maintains that it took all reasonable measures to ensure passenger safety and insists it had no knowledge of the Iraqi invasion having commenced before the plane’s landing.
British Airways also denies any involvement or awareness of intelligence personnel being aboard the flight and refutes claims that it received any government warning regarding flight operations in Kuwait.
The outcome of this case could revive painful memories of the Gulf War era and shed new light on long-standing questions surrounding the responsibility and decisions made by both British Airways and the UK government in the critical hours leading up to the invasion.
