First British evacuation flight from Middle East fails to take off

A British passenger due to leave the Middle East on a delayed plane chartered by the government has called the situation a "total shambles" and said some people were having "panic attacks," Report informs via Sky News.

The flight to evacuate Britons stuck in the region due to the Iran war was scheduled to depart Muscat in Oman at 11 pm local time (GMT) on Wednesday.

However, it never took off and the passenger said they had been told the pilot needed to rest.

The Briton - who wanted to stay anonymous - told Sky News: "[The] check-in process took about four hours due to technical issues. We then got taken to the plane on a bus but had to stay on it for about one-and-a-half hours.

"No consular staff were present airside. They just left us. People started getting very agitated, banging windows, panic attacks.

"There are dozens and dozens of vulnerable people, young children and families."

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "The UK government charter flight was not able to depart from Oman yesterday as planned due to technical issues. The flight is now expected to depart later today."

People who were due on the flight were taken back to a hotel.

The passenger told Sky News they had been told that "due to slow check-in and delays, the pilot had clocked his hours so needed to rest."

"We have been told the plane will take off later today [Thursday] once the pilot has rested," they added.

"The stress this has caused these vulnerable people is incredibly serious."