Ryanair passenger says bomb threat was 'traumatic'
Sarah Jones says passengers had to wait in a hangar for three hours after landing at Murcia in Spain.
Ryanair passenger says bomb threat was 'traumatic'
A passenger on a Ryanair flight has described the evacuation of the aircraft after a suspected bomb threat as "quite traumatic".
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 the other passengers were told to leave their belongings on board, then spent about three hours in an airport hangar while the aircraft was searched.
Spanish officials said no explosives were found. The plane was one of seven searched at airports across Europe after a series of suspected bomb threats.
Jones was travelling with colleagues Charlotte and Elly 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 first assumed 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 very little information about what had happened.
She said a police officer told her there had been a security threat, but would not say 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 stayed calm but spent time outside in hot weather before being given water.
They were eventually allowed back onto 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 checked in Poland, Italy and Bulgaria.
It is not known whether the threats were linked.
The UK government described the incidents as "malicious hoax threats" and said it had well-tested procedures for dealing with potential aviation threats.