The British Airways flight BA034 , a Boeing B747-400 with registration G-BNLL , was going to embark on a commercial international air transportation long haul flight from FAOR to EGLL.

ATC gave British Airways flight BA034 instructions to push back, start and face south, then taxi using taxiway Bravo to the Category 2 holding point for Runway 03L.

During the taxi out , instead of turning to the left to follow Bravo taxiway, the crew of British Airways flight BA034 continued straight ahead, crossing the intersection of taxiway Bravo and aircraft stand taxilane Mike.

British Airways flight BA034

After crossing the intersection, still being on Mike, the aircraft collided with a building.

An investigation was conducted and several causal factors were determined. Amongst others, it was determined that the crew erred in thinking they were still taxiing on Bravo while in fact they were taxiing on Mike.

This mistake, coupled with other contributory factors such as the briefing information, taxi information, ground movement visual aids, confusion and loss of situational awareness led to the collision.

Cause :

• The loss of situational awareness caused the crew to taxi straight ahead on the wrong path, crossing the intersection/junction of Bravo and Mike instead of following Bravo where it turns off to the right and leads to the Category 2 holding point. Following aircraft stand taxilane Mike; they collided with a building on the righthand side of Mike.

Contributory causes :

• Failure of the crew to carry out a briefing after they had received instruction from ATC that the taxi route would be taxiway Bravo.
• 

  British Airways flight BA034

  The lack of appropriate knowledge about the taxiway Bravo layout and relevant information (caution notes) on threats or risks to look out for while taxiing on taxiway Bravo en route to the Cat 2 holding point.

• The aerodrome infrastructure problems (i.e. ground movement navigation aids anomalies), which created a sense of confusion during the taxi.
• Loss of situation awareness inside the cockpit causing the crew not to detect critical cues of events as they were gradually unfolding in front of them.
• Failure of the other crew members to respond adequately when the Co-pilot was commenting on the cues (i.e. narrowness and proximity to the building).
• The intersection/junction of Bravo and Mike not being identified as a hotspot area on the charts.