completely

Flight BA295 had reached a cruising altitude of 37,000ft on its way from London to Chicago before the mid-air emergency

A passenger aboard a London to Chicago British Airways flight says the cabin was “silent” as they dropped 27,000ft in minutes. A “technical issue” caused the aircraft to drop and declare an emergency, and return to London on October 5.

Scott Tanner, 39, was a passenger on the plane when it began descending “noticeably” and they were told to put on oxygen masks. Flight BA295 had reached a cruising altitude of 37,000ft after taking off from Heathrow before the mid-air emergency.

Flight tracking data showed the aircraft dropped sharply down to 9,000ft. Scott said their was “silence” for 10 minutes before they were told they could remove their masks, and retuned to London after five hours in the air.

Scott, from Torbay, Devon, told Talk to the Press: “About an hour into the flight I was listening to an audiobook when, completely without warning, the oxygen masks suddenly dropped throughout the cabin.

“An automated announcement instructed everyone to put on their masks immediately. For around 10 minutes afterwards there was no further information from the flight deck.

“There was simply silence apart from the automated announcement repeating on a loop, which was probably the most disconcerting part. Despite this, everyone remained remarkably calm. I did not hear a single scream.

“We could feel the aircraft descending quite noticeably, although it felt controlled rather than like a plunge. The captain then told us that we were below 10,000 feet and could remove our masks.

“He later explained that we would be returning to Heathrow, but because the aircraft was carrying fuel for the transatlantic journey we would need to circle for several hours to burn it off. We eventually landed safely after about five hours in the air.”

Scott says British Airways provided passengers with hotel accommodation, but further arrangements were “frustrating”. He said: “I was initially rebooked via Charlotte despite direct flights being available, and I had to negotiate to have this changed.

“When I asked whether BA might offer some gesture in recognition of what had happened, I was repeatedly sent between different desks and eventually told that any compensation would have to be dealt with online.”

The plane left London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 at 11:50am, with an expected flight time of eight hours and 40 minutes before landing at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The flight crew issued a squawk 7700 code – the international aviation signal for a general emergency – shortly after beginning the steep descent.

Passenger Tom Nicholls told the Mirror there was a “sudden bit of turbulence” during the emergency. Mr Nicholls explained: “The plane adjusted but it didn’t feel like it was descending rapidly. I’d say the pilots did a very good job.

“The oxygen masks popped out soon after and there was a bit of uncertainty onboard. The couple in front couldn’t get to theirs but by the time they’d found a spare seat with a mask, the captain announced we were below 10,000ft so they were not needed.”

A spokesperson from British Airways said: “The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and the aircraft landed safely after our highly-trained pilots returned to Heathrow following a technical issue.

“Customers disembarked the aircraft normally and our teams are working to get their travel plans back on track as quickly as possible.”

While most of us know Wetherspoons’ pubs, I had no idea it had also been running hotels since 1998, when the chain’s first opened in Shrewsbury with 22 rooms. It now has more than 50

Love it or loathe it, Wetherspoons is a British institution. Its patterned carpets, bargain drinks and grand old buildings are familiar features of high streets across the country.

For a long time, I’ve been in the loathe camp. Having whiled away much of my latter teenage years in one of its pubs – a once particularly grand building converted into the biggest, cheapest drinking den in the South East – I fell out of love with Tim Martin’s chain in my 20s. Partly because the local newspaper I worked for had no offices, so we had to hold news conferences in the room above our local Spoons. Partly out of support for independent pubs, which have been in a fight for survival for the past decade.

Something Spoons is certainly not doing. The chain is booming. It has around 800 venues across the UK and brought in £2.13 billion last year, an almost 5% year-on-year increase. But while most of us know its pubs, I had no idea it had also been running hotels since 1998, when the chain’s first opened in Shrewsbury with 22 rooms. A further 54 have opened since.

OPINION

As you might expect with Spoons, the major draw is the price. A room for a night costs at most £50 at most venues, which is an absolute bargain anywhere near London. The chain also scored four stars out of five for value for money in a Which? budget hotel survey, one of only two to land the score.

So, on a bitter Wednesday in November, I arrived at the Thomas Ingoldsby in Canterbury, frozen and disheveled after a long bike ride from Broadstairs, ready to give Spoons another chance. I was glad that I did.

Price

Cheap drinks are a big part of Spoons’ appeal, and its hotel rooms follow the same formula.

In the Which? survey, Wetherspoons was one of just two hotel groups to earn four stars for value for money. The other was the overall winner, the Coaching Inn Group. While the Coaching Inn Group’s average room rate was £128 a night, Wetherspoons’ was £70. When I checked, a double at the Thomas Ingoldsby for the following Wednesday was available for just £55.

The savings didn’t stop at the bedroom door. I spent the evening drinking £1.89 pints of ale, then tucked into a £2.99 veggie breakfast the next morning. Both were rather decent. Perhaps I’d spent too long inside the M25, but those prices felt almost ridiculously cheap. At a time when leaving the house seems to cost £20 before you’ve done anything, the affordability was the standout attraction.

Atmosphere

My previous Spoons visit had been to the vast, strangely subdued Coronet on London’s Holloway Road. Canterbury on a chilly Wednesday evening couldn’t have felt more different. There were university students, cheerful groups of pensioners and solitary blokes reading books over onion rings. It was a lively cross-section of life, with people happily sharing the same space.

The hotel rooms are a short flight of stairs above the pub, so getting to bed after a pint couldn’t be much easier. You could even take a deli wrap and chips upstairs to enjoy in the bath. A member of staff told me rooms could be booked on a whim, although anyone who had overdone it at the bar might be turned away.

The room

I’ve stayed in plenty of budget hotels, and this was among the best. Everything felt fresh, well maintained and thoughtfully put together. My double room was generously sized, with a large desk, a well-stocked tea tray and a decent-sized television. Better still, it had a view of Canterbury Cathedral that few hotels in the city could rival.

Only two rooms at the Thomas Ingoldsby enjoy that outlook. Those on the other side not only miss out on the cathedral view but are reportedly disturbed by early-morning lorry movements. If you can get it, room 110 is the one I’d recommend. After a freezing day cycling across Kent, I was particularly pleased to discover the thermostat went up to 25C — and that the heating delivered. Within a short time, it felt as though I’d escaped somewhere considerably warmer.

What’s included

There is no all-inclusive package, which is perhaps just as well given the potential combination of Hooch and endless chips. Still, the room came with plenty of useful extras: reliable Wi-Fi, a couple of packets of biscuits, fresh towels, two bottles of water and a generous supply of tea, coffee and hot chocolate sachets. Check-out was at 11am. Breakfast wasn’t included, but at £2.99 for my veggie option, that hardly felt like a reason to complain.

The verdict

A friend’s dad once told me that Spoons was the closest thing Britain had left to a genuine social institution. Watching the mix of people enjoying their evening in Canterbury, I could see what he meant.

As nightclubs and members’ societies close, places where people from different backgrounds can gather feel increasingly valuable. Whatever my reservations about the business, this pub offered exactly that.

Add a comfortable room, a cathedral view and remarkably low prices, and the appeal becomes difficult to resist. I arrived as a skeptic, but Thomas Ingoldsby won me over.

Lizzie Borden is the latest infamous figure to step into Netflix’s spotlight in Ryan Murphy’s Monster.

Lizzie Borden’s disturbing children’s rhyme might be entertaining but it is false.

Monster on Netflix is back following the global success of season three which told the horrific story of Ed Gein, starring Sons of Anarchy legend Charlie Hunnam.

This time around, all eyes are on Lizzie Borden who was accused of the brutal murder of her dad and step-mother in the late 19th Century before she was acquitted.

Despite Lizzie being set free, her reputation was never restored and for more than 100 years, a gruesome children’s rhyme has immortalised the crimes.

But even though this is why Lizzie Borden remains a familiar name in criminal history, the chant is far from factually correct.

Lizzie Borden rhyme explained

Watch Jose Mourinho Netflix doc with free Netflix subscription

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

£5.99

FREE

Netflix | Sky

Get the deal here

Jose Mourinho’s three-part Netflix documentary is available to watch at no extra cost for Sky customers as the provider gives away free subscriptions with each of its Sky Stream TV bundles.

Here is the Lizzie Borden rhyme in full: “Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother 40 whacks.

“When she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41.”

It states that Lizzie killed her mother and father but the woman was actually her step-mother Abby Borden as her biological mum died when she was just a child.

The rhyme goes on to detail that her parents were “whacked” 40 and 40 times but this is an exaggeration as Abby was killed by 18 or 19 strikes and father Andrew by 10 or 11.

In addition, the rhyme states that the murders were committed with an axe but police and experts believe the weapon was a hatchet, a far smaller and compact tool meant for lighter tasks in comparison to an axe.

There’s also the matter that the children’s song states that Lizzie Borden was the one to commit these crimes.

However, a jury acquitted Lizzie of their murders in 1893, so legally, she didn’t kill Abby and Andrew Jackson Borden.

Despite this verdict, public suspicion remained throughout her life and to this day, especially since it was an all-male jury that didn’t think an upper-class woman could commit such a “feral” crime.

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is available to watch on Netflix