Bomb hoax disrupts Aer Lingus flight
The latest bomb hoax occurred on board an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Tenerife on Thursday and resulted in the cancellation of a return flight.
Last month, Ryanair and Aer Arann planes were diverted to Prestwick Airport outside Glasgow due to separate bomb hoaxes.
Aer Lingus confirmed yesterday that just before their aircraft landed at Tenerife at 6.25pm local time on Thursday, a passenger handed a note to a crew member saying that there was a bomb on board. The passenger claimed the note was found in a toilet.
The flight, which was carrying 164 passengers and seven crew members, made a normal landing and was then directed to an area away from the terminal building.
Passengers and crew were evacuated 40 minutes after landing and brought to an area within the airport. Spanish police searched the aircraft and then questioned passengers and crew.
An Aer Lingus spokeswoman said passengers were unable to leave the plane immediately because of the time it took to arrange steps and buses to be brought to the aircraft.
She confirmed that it was Aer Lingus policy to remove passengers and crew from the aircraft as soon as possible. She said the chief pilot was acting under the instructions of local police when he took the plane to a remote area of the airport.
