A huge terror alert over the skies of Britain today saw a Qatar Airways plane given a dramatic RAF Typhoon escort into an airport after an alleged hoax bomb threat.
Fears were initially raised over ‘a possible device on board’ by the pilot on flight QR23 from Doha, Qatar, as it approached Manchester Airport.
Some of the 269 passengers on board the Airbus A330 plane - which was also carrying 13 crew - tonight described terrifying scenes of armed police, shaken-up travellers and crying children.
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An RAF Typhoon jet accompanied a Qatar Airways flight into land at Manchester airport after the pilot of the plane raised the alarm over concerns a 'device was on board'
A passenger on board the aircraft tweeted this photo of a man being escorted away by police
Dramatic video footage and photos showed an RAF jet accompanying the jet as it made its descent, while passengers reported a man being removed from the plane after it landed safely.
Greater Manchester Police later confirmed that a 47-year-old man from north-west England had been arrested on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat following the incident.
A passenger on the flight said the Qatar Airways aircraft was at first circling around the airport for about ten minutes, before the RAF jet arrived alongside for about ten minutes.
After it had landed, Josh Hartley, 21 - who was travelling on the flight on his way home after a ten-day holiday in Australia - then watched as armed police officers escorted a man from the plane.
He said: ‘The flight was quite calm really, there wasn't any commotion on board. And I didn't really see the flight attendants, or notice them around the guy who was taken off the plane and arrested.
‘I couldn't say for sure what happened - the first we knew of anything was when the fighter jet appeared alongside the plane. And it’s not something that goes through your mind.
The man, wearing a green t-shirt with silver lettering, was then pictured being led onto the tarmac by police
‘You don't really think that sort of thing will happen on your flight. And with everything in the news at the moment, I am still really shaken up. I am just glad to be off and away from the plane.
‘We haven't been told anything at all by the police [or] airport staff for the airline. I don't even know if the police want to talk to us or whether we are even allowed to leave the airport.’
The young chef and firefighter volunteer from Sheffield said he was ‘shaken up’ by the incident and was reconsidering whether to take another Qatar Airways flight he has booked for later this month.
He also told the BBC: 'The flight was pretty calm all the way through, but some people are shaken up, quite a few. It was scary. One guy has been escorted off the plane already, but we're still on it.
Speaking of when he became aware of the Typhoon was in the skies, he said: 'I thought it was just a one-off thing, then I realised it had stayed for four or five minutes. I was thinking of the possibilities.'
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.
Explaining what happened: Aurang Zeb (left), 60, from Bradford, who was onboard flight QR23 from Doha
Media interest: Another passenger from the Qatar Airways flight from Doha is interviewed at the airport
He said: ‘We heard the fighter jet circling over Stockport and literally ten 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.’
'The flight was pretty calm all the way through, but some people are shaken up, quite a few. It was scary'
Josh Hartley, passenger
Plane passenger Aurang Zeb, 60, returning from a holiday to his home in Bradford, said: ‘I thought there was something wrong because there was a jet flying so near.’
Mr Zeb said the plane landed and was taken to an area well away from the terminal and other planes, where they waited for 45 minutes then moved again closer to the terminal.
He added: ‘Then I saw all the police with guns. Lots of police everywhere. Kids were crying, some people looked very worried because of rumours there's a bomb on the plane.’
Mr Zeb said two armed police then came on and removed the suspect passenger. ‘They sat him up and said, “Put your hands up”. He did not say anything.
Interviewed: Geo, Manju and Deon Stephenon (left to right) who were on board flight QR23 from Doha
Photos and quotes: Josh Hartley from Sheffield, who tweeted images whilst onboard flight QR23 from Doha
‘People were still worried something might be on board. There was a rumour of a bomb on the plane so people are scared, thank God for that not happening.’
William McDade, 60, from Perth, Australia, over visiting family in Elderslie near Glasgow, said: ‘When you are sitting on a plane there's not much you can do, you have just got to sit there.
‘I just thought it was an unruly passenger, a drunk. When he stood up he didn't appear to be drunk, he put his hands on his head straight away. There was no commotion on the plane whatsoever.’
Manju Geo, from India visiting family in Stoke said: ‘At least two police came on and took one man off. We were told he was writing some notes on the flight and the air hostess found that.’
Matthew Cox, 24, from Chester, said after landing the pilot addressed the passengers: ‘We were told by the pilot everybody should stay seated, nobody should move, then police came inside the plane.
The fighter jet was pictured arching around the Qatar Airways Airbus after contacted authorities on the ground
The pilot alerted those on the ground to what was happening on board and a 'quick reaction' jet was scrambled
‘They arrested the man and took him and the police came on again and said, 'Go' three rows at a time.’
'I saw all the police with guns. Lots of police everywhere. Kids were crying, some people looked very worried because of rumours there's a bomb on the plane'
Aurang Zeb, passenger
Passengers said two armed police arrested the suspect, who was ordered to put his hands on his head before being led away. Mr Cox added: ‘He was very, very compliant.
‘They asked him to put his hands on his head and he submitted himself to a search. There was a general kind of nervousness but there was no full scale panic once on the ground.’
Mr Cox said all the passengers' luggage was searched before they were allowed to leave the airport.
Manchester Airport said nine incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports, with five of these landing at Leeds Bradford airport.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2716649/RAF-fighter-jet-escorts-passenger-plane-Manchester-airport-amid-captain-s-fears-device-board.html#ixzz39XrkxeRt
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