A passenger on a plane which landed at Manchester Airport with an RAF Typhoon escort was arrested yesterday on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat.
Fears were initially raised over “a possible device on board” by the pilot on board flight QR23 from Doha, Qatar, as it approached the airport.
Dramatic video footage and photos showed an RAF jet accompanying the Qatar Airways Airbus A330 as it made its descent , while passengers reported a man being removed from the plane after it landed safely.
Less than an hour after the first reports, Greater Manchester Police confirmed the arrest was related to a suspected hoax.
Before confirming the passenger had been arrested on suspicion of a hoax threat, GMP said: “A passenger has been taken off the plane by officers at Manchester Airport. We will work to get others off as swiftly and safely as possible.”
Qatar Airways said 269 passengers were on board. The airline said: “Qatar Airways can confirm that flight QR23 from Doha to Manchester, an Airbus A330-300, landed safely at Manchester Airport ahead of its scheduled arrival time.
“There were 269 passengers and 13 Qatar Airways crew on board.
“The crew on board had received a threat about a possible device and Qatar Airways immediately took all the necessary precautions to alert British authorities.
“The crew is now fully assisting police at the airport with their inquiries. The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew is our top priority. As this is a matter of a police investigation, we cannot comment further at this time.” Witness Paul Bell, who was on his way to the airport in a taxi, told Sky News that he saw the Typhoon, from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, meet the passenger plane.
He said: “We heard the fighter jet circling over Stockport and 10 minutes later we saw the plane coming in being followed by it. We saw the Typhoon coming in, literally flying around the aeroplane. It then pinged up on the sat nav that the airport is on lock-down.”
An RAF spokesman said: “We can confirm that Typhoon aircraft were launched from RAF Coningsby in their quick reaction alert role this afternoon to investigate a civilian aircraft whose pilot had reques-ted assistance.”
Manchester Airport said nine incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports, with five of these landing at Leeds Bradford airport.
At the airport terminal loved ones of the passengers waited anxiously for news.
Pauline Cox, from Chester, waiting for her son, Matthew Cox, 24, travelling back after a three-week trip to Thailand, said: “Nobody has been out from Manchester Airport to tell us anything. Parents have been waiting, two, three hours. When we asked we were told they were in a remote location for security reasons. We have heard there’s a bomb and our innocent children are sat on that plane.”
She added: “I’m just so frustrated they have been through that ordeal and just treated with not the respect they deserve, that’s not how you treat victims.”