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The Heathrow Terminal 5 disaster (1 of 10)

The Heathrow Terminal 5 disaster

When a new terminal opens, things are bound to go wrong. Usually these things involve fairly simple issues, like computer problems, or a faulty PA system.

The launch of Heathrow Terminal 5 was different - this launch rapidly evolved into a total disaster, and finally reached the point where the airport operator simply told people to stay away, even if they had departing flights that day.

The baggage backup was so severe, that the airport started sending bags from London to a US based FedEx facility, just to have them retagged and sent to their rightful owner. Other bags were loaded on trucks and driven to Italy for the same purpose. Those bags were then trucked back to the UK. 01/06/09

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