Flight 149 | Ep 10 | Impact

The Secret History of Antarctica: Death on the Ice

Stephen reveals some new details that have come to light since we started making this series, and speaks with someone who was on the ground in Kuwait at the time of the invasion. We also hear from all the human shields we’ve been following, and learn about the personal impact of this horrific ordeal.

Additional material across the series courtesy of Getty, Blakeway Productions, The Parliamentary Recording Unit and C-Span.

British Airways gave us the following statement: "Our hearts go out to all those caught up in this shocking act of war just over 30 years ago, and who had to endure a truly horrendous experience. The records (released by the Government last year) confirmed British Airways was not warned about the invasion."

The Foreign Office released a statement in 2021 that said: “On 1 of August the British Embassy in Kuwait told the local British Airways office that while flights on 1 August should be safe, subsequent flights were inadvisable”. It then repeated a previous statement to say: “the Government at the time did not attempt in any way to exploit the flight by any means whatever”.

Coming January 2023: The Secret History of The Estonia. A tale of secrets, smuggling and spies and why 852 people died on a ferry. Stephen investigates the mystery behind Europe's worst peacetime shipping disaster since the Titanic.

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