♥ Friday, August 21
SYDNEY (AFP) - - Passengers on Thursday described the anxious moments they were herded to the back of an Australia-bound Singapore Airlines plane mid-flight while air crew searched the cabin following a bomb threat.
An airline spokeswoman said its call centre in Mumbai received a call saying a bomb was on board and the captain ordered the crew to conduct a "discreet search" of the jumbo jet.
"We investigated it, felt that the threat was not there, however we took every precaution to make sure the flight was safe and crew and passengers were all safe," she said.
"Once we decided it was... we continued and landed in Melbourne safely."
Passenger Jetmir Lumani said people anxiously gathered at the back of the plane after the captain made an announcement asking everyone to leave their seats.
"He said we regret to do this to you but we need to tell you there might be a trap on the plane. We're thinking trap, what's this trap?" Lumani told public broadcaster ABC.
"I thought for sure bomb threat and people started to get up and walk to the back of the plane."
All 197 passengers on the Boeing 747 were ultimately allowed to return to their seats but Lumani said the final stages of the flight were anxious.
"The last 50 minutes of the flight, very nervous. I was just thinking what's going to happen now," he said.
The airline said the threat was taken very seriously and a tape of the call had been handed over to the Australian Federal Police, who met the plane upon arrival and had launched an investigation.
"An assessment of the threat was conducted and the aircraft continued its normal flight to Melbourne where it was ascertained to be a hoax threat," a police spokesman said.
Another airline spokesman said checks had been carried out on a subsequent Singapore-Melbourne flight as a further precaution.
Published by:
Raymond Lim
4/9 '10 loves x3 11:09 PM