[mayfam]

I am trying to help a friend approach the question of compensation when BA 2167 (LGW to TPA) was cancelled on June 1. He was put on other flights and arrived home 27 hours late. No reason was given for the cancellation at the time. He lined up for 4 hours just to get rebooked, and getting home was his priority at the time.

Since then he has written to BA, and been told "no compensation". Cancellation was apparently due to an "accident" not caused by BA, and therefore an extraordinary circumstance.

This information may well be correct. But lots of hypothetical possibilities remain. Just two examples, could the accident have ocurred a few flights earlier, and the plane taken out of service at BA's convenience when it could have been repaired earlier? Was the accident so minor that it was not dispatch-critical (i.e., the plane was legally flyable per the MEL), and BA just chose to repair it then also at their convenience.

My friend has written to BA and asked for answers like this, starting with the date and time and place and nature of the accident. But they've not replied to him.

So here's my question . . . how does one find out the date and time and place and nature of an accident? I've been unable to find anything on the web beyond the fact that the flight was cancelled, and that the return flight (TPA-LGW, which was also cancelled) did qualify for compensation. I have not even been bale to find the registration number of the airplane.

So . . . the first need is for information on how to get at the facts here.

Thanks for any help!