Ryanair passenger says bomb threat was 'traumatic'

The evacuation of a Ryanair aircraft after a suspected bomb threat has been described as "quite traumatic" by a passenger who was on board the flight.

Sarah Jones said police, fire crews and bomb disposal officers surrounded the plane after it landed at Murcia airport from Manchester.

The medic from Manchester said she and her fellow passengers were told to leave their belongings on board and then spent about three hours in an airport hangar while the plane was searched.

Spanish officials said no explosives were found. The aircraft was one of seven searched at airports across Europe following a series of suspected bomb threats.

Jones was travelling with colleagues Charlotte and Kelly to work as medics at a golf tournament in La Manga in south-eastern Spain.

She said the flight was uneventful until the aircraft landed at about 10:30 local time (09:30 GMT).

"When we landed, the plane just sort of stopped really quickly and we were held there for a while," she told the BBC.

Passengers initially thought they were waiting for permission to taxi to the terminal.

"Then we were just surrounded by police, the bomb squad, ambulances were there, fire engines," she said.

"Then we were told that we needed to evacuate the plane, but we weren't allowed to bring anything off.

"We had to leave the luggage in the overhead lockers."

Jones said passengers walked towards the airport and were initially given little information about what had happened.

She said a police officer told her there had been a security threat, but would not confirm whether it involved the airport or the plane.

They were later told there had been a bomb threat made against their aircraft, Jones said.

She said sniffer dogs searched the plane and passengers' luggage was checked.

"I think we were more frustrated that we didn't know what was going on," she said.

Jones said passengers remained calm but spent time outside in hot weather before being offered water.

They were eventually allowed to return to the plane through its rear door to collect their luggage, before leaving through the front door and going through the airport.

Jones said they did not leave the airport until after 14:00 local time.

Spanish officials said 121 people, including crew, had been on board the flight.

Other aircraft were inspected in Poland, Italy and Bulgaria.

It is not known whether the threats were connected.

The UK government described the incidents as "malicious hoax threats" and said it had well-tested procedures for handling potential aviation threats.

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