A Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Manchester flew into the UK with a military escort this afternoon after the pilot declared an emergency over a suspicious package onboard.
One passenger was seen being taken off the plane by armed officers after the QR23 emergency landing:
@BBCBreaking police escort pic.twitter.com/qXUJCllXpc
— Matthew Cox (@MattPeterC) August 5, 2014
According to the Telegraph, the problem began when cabin crew on the Qatari aircraft were passed a note by a passenger. The note reached the captain, who alerted air traffic controllers and scrambled the British fighter jet.
The newspaper quotes Manchester Police Chief Superintendent John O’Hare as saying:
“An incoming plane has been escorted into the airport by the Royal Air Force as a result of information received by the pilot about a possible device on board.
We don’t know how genuine this threat is but it is absolutely vital we deal with the situation as a full emergency.”
He added that he urged people not to be alarmed, saying, “Our response will be as comprehensive as it is proportionate with the safety of those on board and in and around the airport our paramount concern.”
On Twitter, the police force added that passengers were being allowed off the plane and that the threat was likely a hoax:
A man who was onboard the plane at @manairport has been arrested on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat.
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) August 5, 2014
According to the BBC, all flights in and out of Manchester Airport were suspended for about 20 minutes, but have resumed operations.
Some passengers were snapping pictures and tweeting about their military escort, a RAF Typhoon fighter jet:
Being escorted in pic.twitter.com/oXwxmhNsjo
— Josh Hartley (@JoshHartley_) August 5, 2014
Others on the plane said they didn’t even know what was happening as they sat in the plane until they checked social media:
Apparently I'm in the plane that got escorted by a fighter jet; flight QR23 from Doha
Would have been nice to have been told! @MENnewsdesk
— Matthew Cox (@MattPeterC) August 5, 2014
Passengers also complained about long waits as their luggage was searched after getting off the plane.
In a statement, Qatar Airways said that some 269 passengers and 13 crew members were on board the flight when it landed early. It continued:
“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.”
Thoughts?
Glad to see that Qatar Airways took the effort to mention that their plane “arrived ahead of schedule.” Because what’s important at times like these is putting in a little advertising plug for your airline. Worst PR ever in this country
It’s not a PR thing, it’s for relatives to know that the plane already landed before schedule so they don’t stay worried.
Your words will be lost by the amount of up votes Ryan gets
Precisely.
Are they saying it takes a fighter escort and dedicated clearance to arrive ahead of schedule?
You need to put down whatever it is you’re smoking so that you can think objectively for once…
There goes that qatar shaming thing again. This guy is so full of hate he can’t think straight. Honestly, it’s getting old.
Most of the dope heads brought to Qatar as “experts” suffer from the same problem, just view how many thought his idiotic statement was a clever one…
Well, you can’t expect dope heads to be as clever as you, or even have your impeccable manners
Everyone is entitled to have their opinions and to express them as arrogantly as they please, I can respect that. However I am just as entitled to display my “impeccable manners” to those who behave in a civil manner and reserve very different treatment for those who wish to behave like buffoons.
Well good for you, teach those buffoons a lesson
People on Twitter say he was drunk.
https://twitter.com/Mariam_AlSaad/status/496655607949049858
That would be me guess to do something so stupid. Better a drunk hoax than a sober religious extremist with a real plan to murder
religious extremist…strange u said that…when and where…drunk hoax yes i can understand…senseless mind and out of control…sometimes even might go to an extent to be nude
Plenty of people who kill in the name of religion. Take our friendly Isis in Iraq or the released Taliban prisons who killed thousands of Shias in Afghanistan during their ‘rule’
but the topic is about QA, a suspicious package, a bomb threat…where did religion come in this topic…it is no where mentioned
Yes MIMH, how dare you mention something not covered in the article
Hijackers have a tendency to be religious extremists in recent years.
ripcord and rss are inter-related with different id but with the same view
What? Two people with the same view? It must be a conspiracy. So are you that surprised that more than one person has the view that religious extremists have hijacked planes?
Hahaha…. How dare we have the same opinion. It seems like we are both reading from the same religious book……. Hang on a minute….
Mimh… I mentioned rip cord and not mimh.. read it again
Recent reports suggest that the individual may actually be suffering from mental health issues.
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-28671822
Serious question- what is the purpose for being escorted in? To make sure the plane doesn’t go off the planned track to the airport?
to destroy it, not to crash in one piece
If a plane was hijacked and they intended to crash it into a populated area, they would shoot it down before it got that far.
To blow it out of the sky if necessary
Well he will be looking at some jail time for being such an idiot.
Whether it is a hoax or not (and regardless of how it was reported), I give props to the QA crew for taking it seriously. It is better to accept backlash for an overreaction than to suffer the consequences of a tragedy. Imagine how this board would light up if we learned that there was a bomb/hijacking and QA had done nothing?
Really? I took that for granted. Would any airline ever ignore a bomb threat made by a passenger? Must be standard airline procedure to report it even if the guy looks like a harmless lunatic. Maybe any pilots on here can confirm
For obvious reasons I am not going to say how the system works, but there are different levels of bomb threats.. Each with its own appropriate response and procedures
one is a hoax, the other is real. Both are bad
Maybe in the world you inhabit but I’d rather a drunken hoax by an idiot than some religious extremist who thinks he is doing gods work and kills me.
I would prefer the drunk over the extremist every time.
…except that drunk people sober up.