Passengers Stranded in Airport After Pilot and Crew Get Stuck in Elevator for Hours

A flight set to depart from the United Kingdom hit a snag on Tuesday after the pilot and crew members became stuck in a temporary elevator for over three hours, stranding passengers at the airport.

Qatar Airways flight QR36 was headed to Doha, the capital of Qatar, when an unexpected issue with the elevator trapped the flight staff from 6 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. at Birmingham Airport. The flight was scheduled to depart at 7:45 a.m., but did not take off until 11:40 a.m., the Daily Mail reported. 

Passengers were stuck waiting at the gate while airport staff and the local fire department worked to release the pilot and crew from the elevator. 

“With our lift contractor unable to reactivate the lift system, West Midlands fire service removed a panel to allow the crew out just before 9:30 a.m. We are very sorry to airline crew members and customers affected by this,” an airport spokesperson told the outlet.

A total of six people were trapped inside the elevator, a fire spokesperson told Business Insider.

A panel from the elevator ultimately had to be removed to free the staff.

"Working with on-site engineers, we freed the six people using tools, a ladder and scaffold boards," a fire service spokesperson said. "No one was hurt."

A passenger aboard the flight told the Mail there was a “massive queue” to receive meal vouchers for the unexpected interruption, and that the delay jeopardized many people’s connecting flight from the Middle Eastern air hub.