Plane travelling from Turkey to Manchester diverted to Stansted after 'security threat'

The plane on the runway at Stansted. Credit: Twitter: @Joseph37671716

A plane travelling from Turkey to Manchester had to be diverted to London Stansted escorted by two RAF fighter jets, after authorities were alerted to a 'security threat'.

A passenger on board the Jet2 flight from Dalaman described the incident as the "scariest moment of my life" as armed police surrounded the aircraft.

The flight was due to land at Manchester Airport at 9.40pm on Wednesday 12 October, but was diverted to Stansted, where it landed shortly after 9.20pm.

Essex Police said they were alerted to a potential threat on board the plane.

The force said the runway was closed while enquiries were carried out and officers were able to establish there was no threat on board.

Armed police surrounded a plane as it landed in a 'red point' at the airport.

Andrea, from north Wales, said she sensed that 'something was wrong' when the plane began circling in the moments after the pilot announced that they would soon be landing at Manchester Airport. 

Andrea said: "We thought we were near Manchester but then the plane kept circling."The pilot had said we would be landing soon and all the staff were in their seats." 

She said the toilets were then locked, everyone was told to stay in their seats and then the plane landed after turning.Andrea continued: "When we actually landed on this strip with nothing there, we were taken to a 'red point'. The air hostesses couldn't tell us what was going on."We were sat there and then we saw all these armed police driving up. We were terrified. We knew something was wrong then. Police had their guns pointing at the plane."Everyone started panicking, I started crying. I'm disabled so I don't take things good as it is."

The flight was surrounded by armed police as it landed in London Stansted instead of Manchester. Credit: MEN Media

Andrea added: "The pilot came on and said: 'Don't worry we need to sit calm' but no one could stand up and this was for a good two hours. We didn't know where we were."We saw it on the internet and people saw it on social media. Everyone was saying 'oh my god' as it said it was a bomb scare.

"It was scary, it really was. I don't get frightened very easily but I was scared. It was the scariest moment of my life."Andrea said the pilot was eventually able to leave the cockpit and speak to passengers. He apologised and said they were told they had to land as soon as possible, she added.

The RAF confirmed that two Typhoon jets were involved in the response to the incident.Jet2 said its teams were looking after those affected, adding: "We would like to apologise to everyone onboard for any inconvenience or upset caused by this unforeseen incident.

"We understand that the authorities were alerted to a potential security threat, however this has been downgraded and the incident has been declared as over."