Police search plane after bomb alert

A major search of a Greek airliner was under way tonight after the plane was forced to divert to Stansted airport for an emergency landing following a bomb threat.

UK Police said “well-rehearsed procedures” had immediately been followed after an anonymous emergency call to a Greek newspaper alerted authorities to the possibility of a bomb on board Olympic Airways flight 411 from Athens to New York’s JFK airport.

A New York fireman involved in the rescue effort following the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers was among 301 passengers and crew evacuated safely after the plane was rerouted to Stansted in Essex, escorted by RAF Tornado jets.

Robert Santandrea, 33, from Queens, told how the alert brought back memories of 9/11.

“I was praying. I was a little nervous but everyone was very calm,” said Mr Santandrea as he arrived at a hotel at Stansted with other passengers.

Mr Santandrea was a member of Engine 45 in the Bronx on September 11 and is now based in Brooklyn.

He lost friends in the attack on the Twin Towers and thought about them as the plane was diverted today.

“I did lose friends at 9/11. I arrived after the Twin Towers collapsed and was involved in the rescue efforts after that.

“It made me think about that today and now I’m just so tired.”

He told how the plane had just passed over Europe and was over the Atlantic when he could see the monitor on the screen in front of him show the plane starting to turn and change course.

“And then a few minutes after that there was an announcement from the pilot who said there had been a threat against the airline.”

He added: “It was a very normal landing. We didn’t assume crash positions or anything like that.”

Artist Skye Ferranti, 31, of Soho, Lower Manhattan, said armed police boarded the plane after it touched down.

“When we turned around it was very calm,” said Mr Ferranti. “The pilot said there was a threat of sabotage. I remember he used that word and we were heading to Heathrow but it turned out to be Stansted.

“It was very calm on the plane. Everyone seemed to stay calm until we landed and then the atmosphere changed.

“British security men armed with machine guns came on board and told everyone to leave their bags and get off as quickly as possible.

“We left our bags either on the Tarmac or the plane and ran towards some coaches that were waiting.

“There wasn’t that many armed policemen. It wasn’t swarming with them or anything like that but it got a little scary at that point.

Passengers and crew were evacuated safely within 20 minutes of the flight landing in Stansted where it had been diverted under the escort of the fighter jets.

A spokesman for Essex ambulance services said around 30 passengers were being treated for a variety of conditions, which were “not serious”.

Essex Police Assistant Chief Constable, Liam Brigginshaw said officers were working methodically to check a “substantial amount” of hold baggage and five tons of cargo which the plane was carrying.

“We are not dealing with anything like a hostage situation or a terrorist attack,” he said.

“We are working with sensible procedures to ensure the safety of passengers, the aircraft and the airport, which is still running with no disruption to its operation.”

John Wescott, airport duty manager, said the operation had been handled “extremely well”.

Since the September 11 attacks, it was normal procedure for threatened planes to be accompanied into Stansted, the UK’s designated hijack airport, by RAF fighter jets.

The alert came earlier today after a Greek daily newspaper, Ethnos, received the anonymous telephone warning.