Travel is sometimes a hard thing – especially when threats are made aboard a plane that can put a flight at serious risk.
Qatar Airways QR23 operating between Doha and Manchester Airport UK, was escorted to landing in Manchester today following a report there was a possible device aboard.
Qatar Airways Airbus A330 landing at London Heathrow – Image, GhettoIFE
The plane was escorted into Manchester by two Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons after the pilot reported a possible explosive device aboard the plane reported by a passenger.
Manchester Airport was closed for 25 minutes during the incident, with nine flights diverted during the incident. Services resumed around 14:00 local time.
Q23 was operated with an Airbus A330-300 on its schedule service.
After landing, a passenger – 47-year-old man from the North West of England was escorted from the plane by armed police, and was being held in custody for questioning.
Passengers were allowed to disembark the plane as normal, with a full baggage search and crew cooperating with enquiries.
Qatar Airways state:
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 of 13:15. There were 269 passengers and 13 Qatar Airways crew on board.
The crew had received a threat about a possible device on board and #QatarAirways 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.
Greater Manchester Police state:
From the Greater Manchester Police Twitter Feed
Twitter user Josh Hartley caught the scenes, including the incident and of the aftermath…
Picture by Josh Hartley via Twitter – https://twitter.com/JoshHartley_/statuses/496636334027862016
Picture by Josh Hartley via Twitter – https://twitter.com/JoshHartley_/statuses/496715821201494017
Thankfully, no device has been found, and the plane will be set to return to normal service. However, when people in the air make claims about dangerous things, crew only have one action to take – and that’s to get passengers down safely and professionally.
Want to keep up with me at GhettoIFE? Join me either by signing up for my newsletter, or follow me on Twitter @GhettoIFE for when there are posts to the blog!
Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European readers!