Watch the dramatic moment British terror police bundle Manchester passenger off a plane after he threatened to blow it up
- Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane was diverted to Stansted
- Boeing 777 escorted by Typhoon jets after Manchester landing abandoned
- One passenger allegedly threatened to 'blow up the plane' after an argument
- Police said the incident treated as a criminal offence not terror-related
PUBLISHED: 09:40 GMT, 28 May 2013 | UPDATED: 12:18 GMT, 28 May 2013
Footage: The man, whose face has been masked for legal reasons, was handcuffed by police on board the flight last week
This is the dramatic moment police stormed a plane and bundled a man away amid fears a flight arriving in Britain was a hijacking target because he allegedly 'threatened to blow it up'.
A terrified passenger filmed officers escorting the man to the front of the Boeing 777 plane, carrying 308 passengers, which had been due to land at Manchester but then was diverted to Stansted after a terror alert.
After the captain activated an emergency signal, two RAF Typhoon fighter jets raced through the skies to meet the Pakistan International Airlines plane following reports two men ‘tried to get into the cockpit’.
The incident happened in the febrile atmosphere following the Woolwich murder of soldier Lee Rigby, 25, last Wednesday, so the authorities decided to take no chances. Armed officers from Essex Police boarded the Boeing 777 and arrested two British men.
PIA Flight PK709 was carrying 297 passengers and 11 crew on the 13-hour flight from Lahore in Pakistan to Manchester.
Passenger Umari Nauman said: ‘The cabin crew informed us that basically they tried to come into the cockpit a few times and because they had been asked not to do that they got into a bit of an argument with the crew and made a few threats.’
Captain Nadeem Sufi reported to his bosses at PIA’s headquarters in Pakistan that, 30 minutes before landing, crew members told him that two passengers had threatened ‘to blow up the flight after a heated conversation’.
The captain reportedly said: ‘As soon as crew told me, I raised the alarm to air traffic control.’ He sent out what is known as a ‘squawk 7700’ – an emergency code transmitted by a radio transponder signalling the aircraft is in peril.
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Drama: The smartphone video shows the passengers watching on as the man was led backwards to the front of the Boeing 777 and then off
The Pakistan International Airlines plane that was escorted into Stansted by two RAF Typhoon jets last week
The Typhoons were immediately scrambled from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, as a precaution. Passenger Noman Rizvi said later: ‘We did not notice anything extraordinary until we saw a jet fighter outside the window.
‘The pilot announced we were diverting towards London due to bad weather. When the flight landed, the pilot told us we were under threat and that is why we had been escorted by the Royal Air Force.’
For more than three decades, Stansted has been the designated airport for hijacks and major security incidents, with a remote area known as Compass Base set aside far from the main terminal.
As soon as the plane landed armed police swarmed aboard and two men.
The remaining passengers were told to leave their belongings and were escorted from the plane.
They were taken to a holding area while police and forensic experts checked the aircraft.
VIDEO: MAN BUNDLED OFF 777 AFTER 'BLOW IT UP THREAT'
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In the sky: The PIA plane as it was being escorted by a RAF jet over Britain last Friday
The flight from Lahore to Manchester was diverted to Stansted following the 'incident' 10 minutes before it was due to land
This image shows how the plane was moved away from the passenger terminals after it landed at Stansted
Passengers are led from the plane after it landed at Standsted Airport
Police have confirmed they are treating the incident as a criminal offence
There was a large police presence at the airport after the plane, originally bound for Manchester, landed
Officers boarded the plane after it landed at Stansted and removed two men
Yesterday taxi driver and supermarket employee Tayyab Subhani, 30, and restaurant worker Mohammed Safdar, 41, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court charged with endangering an aircraft. Both were refused bail and will appear again on August 5 for a plea and case management hearing.
