Twitter storm as Michael Owen complains after BA flight diversion
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MIchael Owen was returning from LA to Heathrow when his flight was diverted to Manchester
Airport regulations saw former England and Liverpool striker Michael Owen endure his very own travel 'torture' on Tuesday.
The footballer-turned-horseracing owner was travelling back to the UK from the US on a British Airways flight after attending the famous Santa Anita Breeders' Cup meeting.
Scheduled for a fly-in to London Heathrow Airport from Los Angeles, thick fog meant the flight had to be diverted to Manchester.
The irony is, Owen's original plans were to end up in Manchester via transfer from Heathrow.
However, once the plan was grounded in the north west, it wasn't quite the stroke of luck that the 34-year-old had hoped for.
Owen took to Twitter to inform the world of his 'travel torture' when he wrote: 'Been told I can't get off. Got to wait on plane for over an hour to then fly to Heathrow and miss my flight back up to Manchester. #Torture.'
But it was his next, possible tongue-in-cheek tweet that saw him come in for criticism on the social networking site.
Owen added: 'Please BA, let me walk off the plane and into my Dads car. I want to pick my kids up from school and don't need to go to Heathrow and back.'
Conor Waters replied: 'Go through security like the rest of us,' while Barry Smith added: 'Sure there's many other ppl on the plane with same dilemmas #civilianlife.'
Jack Cunningham weighed in with: 'it's a security risk, ex footballer or not ,' while Karcher got personal with his comment of: 'Please BA leave him on the plane forever!'
Michael Owen spent three years at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson
Owen (right), Patrick Kluivert (centre) and Fabio Cannavaro pose with t-shirts at a Global Legends Series media event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Craig Hughes added: 'Rules are rules, Michael,' which warranted a response from Owen when he Tweeted back: 'I know and I abide by them 100%. Doesn't mean I can't be annoyed.'
Keeping his 2.99 million followers up to date of how his frustrating day was going, Owen later Tweeted that he had missed picking his children up, but had managed to squeeze on another flight out of Heathrow.
A spokesman for British Airways told MailOnline Travel: 'We are very sorry that our customers were inconvenienced by this delay.
'Our flight from Los Angeles to Heathrow diverted to Manchester yesterday morning due to heavy fog at Heathrow. It refuelled in Manchester before resuming its journey to London.
'Leaving the diversion airport as quickly as possible is our priority as it causes the least disruption to our customers. Allowing some customers to disembark and leave the airport would increase the delay to the flight and further inconvenience the majority of customers for whom Heathrow is the final destination.'
Owen (left of picture) watches as his horse Brown Panther is unsaddled by jockey Richard Kingscote at the Breeders' Cup in Santa Anita, US
Owen will have been less than pleased after his horse Brown Panther finished 11th of 12 in one of the Breeders' Cup's big races
It rounded off a frustrating few days for Owen. He took his horse Brown Panther over to the US for the world famous Breeders' Cup. Unfortunately, racing in the $3million Turf event he only beat one rival to finish 11th of 12.
Owen is no stranger to criticism, having received it by the bucket-load over his style of commentary since joining up with BT Sport as a commentator.
And now to add fuel to his critics' fire, his hatred of films, and cringeworthy moaning at 'not being allowed off the plane' will simply go to show off his personality still further.
MailOnline reported how Owen's role with BT Sport could be under threat after he chose to watch his horse Brown Panther run in the Breeders' Cup meeting in the States rather than work on BT Sport's Newcastle v Liverpool match last Saturday.
BT are understood to have been disappointed by Owen's decision to put his racing interests before his football commitments and have made that very clear to him. So much so that if Owen misses another game in similar circumstances, there could be a parting of the ways.
Michael Owen won every domestic trophy on offer, but will be best remembered scoring goals for Liverpool
But it's not all doom and gloom for Owen. Last month he was inducted into the English Hall of Fame for his services to football.
Owen, who won every domestic honour available during his time with Manchester United and Liverpool as well as the 2001 Ballon d'Or said at the time: 'I am delighted to be selected to join the Hall of Fame. What a fantastic way to end my playing career.
'My whole family are very proud. It is great to be joining a list that includes so many of my heroes.'
The former England striker tweeted from the event to reveal he was sat at a table 'with legends Roger Hunt, Bobby Charlton, Jimmy McIlroy etc.'
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