rex

I have to wonder if some Fodorite, or someone who knows someone may have been on that flight. Hope it wasn't scary. I'm sure that it involved an inconvenience at the least.

Maybe we will eventually hear about it in someone's trip report?

Hope everyone affected enjoys a safe and pleasant resumption of their intended travels.

Best wishes,

Rex

WillTravel

I feared it was a mechanical issue. Instead it was one of those incidents where the crew diverted because of a note where a bomb was on board.

I wonder if Ryanair will stand these passengers in Scotland? I hope they had travel insurance that will cover this.

WillTravel

Of course there wasn't a bomb.

rex

<< ... and the passengers, once cleared by police, would continue on their journey to Dublin... >>

Safe to say, that this would not be one's best day of traveling in Europe.

WillTravel

At least Ryanair isn't stranding them there, as I feared. But I guess they need to get that plane moved along too. I wonder how this affected other flights (those passengers might end up being the stranded ones, come to think of it).

rex

Good question(s), Will...

In fact, if any of those passengers traveling BVA-DUB had onward plans (say, Dublin-Cork, on a later Ryanair flight), that the extent to which Ryanair might be &quot;accommodating&quot; is hard to predict (some might say it's <i>easy</i> to predict!)

There is an announcement on their website - - http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/notic...412-canxPIK-EN - - that passengers on four flights canceled (in/out of Prestwick to/from other places) will be offered free rebooking or refunds at no cost. Just like a <i>real</i> airline would do! (wink... j/k - - everyone here knows I <i>love</i> Ryanair!)

LoveItaly

Good heavens Rex, that must have been so stressful. I hadn't heard about it but I haven't paid much attention to the news today. Assume they do know who handed a flight crew member the bomb threat note but did that person find the note or did that person write the note? Thanks for posting this information. I did have our local news on for about 20 minutes this evening but are local news is pathetic. They spent 15 minutes talking about the continual rainstorms we have had, as though we didn't realize that? Take care.

CotswoldScouser

The story hasn't had much coverage anywhere outside Ireland.

But there's a clear moral. If you're going to plant a bomb on a plane , make sure it gets diverted to an airport within the jurisdiction of Strathcyde Police. Whose response to the threat was to keep the passengers on the plane for three hours.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4904124.stm

stokebailey

Nothing better for public relations than keeping a bunch of schoolgirls in harm's way while you search the plane.

Intrepid1

I'm not sure why the plane had to be &quot;accompanied&quot; by RAF jets, either..so they could watch it blow up?

CotswoldScouser

The first information given to ATC by September 11 pilots, according to the recordings released yesterday, was that there was a bomb on board.

Fighter cover is now standard procedure under these circumstances.

clairobscur

&quot;I'm not sure why the plane had to be &quot;accompanied&quot; by RAF jets, either..so they could watch it blow up?&quot;


Remember that the 9/11 hijackers also stated there was a bomb onboard t frighten into compliance the crew and passengers. The same scenario could have been played in this case too.

I'm affraid the RAF fighters weren't there to watch it blow up but to blow it up themselves if needed.

LoveItaly

I read this morning that the passenger that showed the bomb threat note to one of the crew members said he found it in a magazine and at least at the time to article was written the authorities do not know if this passenger really did find the note or if he actually wrote it.

A Ryanair spokesman was quoted as saying passenger safety was their first concern. So why did the leave the passengers on the plane for two or three hours?? Not to impressive.

Robespierre

Because in the bureaucratic mind, &quot;safety&quot; takes precedence over &quot;comfort.&quot;

But I still don't see the reasoning. If there actually <u>had</u> been a b.. b.. on the airplane, wouldn't the pax be safer somewhere else?

CotswoldScouser

Let's get this clear, because LoveItaly sounds to have got it wrong.

Ryanair did everything perfectly.

The decision to leave the passengers on the plane was made by either Strathclyde Police, or the UK Home Office. No-one in Britain is falling over themselves to clarify who took what decision because - well, sooner or later there'll be a real threat, and why should we tell the bad guys how we react on these occasions?

But Ryanair was innocent. OK?

rex

I agree that Ryanair is innocent. And if you believe that a terrorist is within a planeload of passengers, then the plane may provide the optimum &quot;confining space&quot; to try to unravel the <i>potential</i> threat.

I know that this is not humorous business, but I chuckle, thinking of the parallel to the movie &quot;Inside Man&quot; (sorry if that spoils a surprise element of the plot for you).

LoveItaly

Hello Cotswold, I failed to properly explain what the article I read said.

The article said that the captain was pleading with the authorities to allow the passengers off of the plane to no avail. So yes, not the fault of Ryanair. I completely agree.

But what I don't understand is if there was the potential of a bomb it was not good IMO to make the passengers stay on the plane. Surely there were enough law enforcement people there to &quot;herd&quot; the passengers off of the plane and to a secure location where all innocent people would be safe if a bomb did go off in the plane and where the authorities could contain everyone until the investigations were completed.

But perhaps there was not a secure area at the airport so the authorities could do this.

Thank goodness there was not a bomb. But I can imagine the aftemath if there had been and the bomb had gone off while the passengers were forced to stay on the plane. According to the article there were even a lot of school children on the plane, some school choral group I believe.

Anyway, thankfully all is well that ends well.

Robespierre

I'll tell you where I'd be if it was announced that there was a bomb on the plane:

as soon as the wheels stopped turning, I'd be at the bottom of the slide, urging anyone still on board to join me.