Armed police storm easyJet plane at Stansted Airport and arrest three men after ‘bomb hoax’ on flight to Amsterdam
Essex police said the plane had been moved to a ‘secure area of the airport’ following a warning
Stansted Airport said the runway was closed for 50 minutes before reopening
Six inbound flights had to be diverted due to bomb hoax disruption
Have you witnessed this incident? Please contact laurence.dollimore@mailonline.co.uk
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Armed police have arrested three men at London Stansted Airport for allegedly making a fake bomb on an easyJet flight to Amsterdam.
‘Specialist officers’ stormed the plane on Wednesday evening after reports of a ‘safety problem in an aircraft on the ground’ shortly after 7.40 pm.
It came after the runway had to be closed for 50 minutes while the A319 passenger plane was moved to a ‘safe area’ as dozens of other jets kept circling overhead.
Six inbound flights had to be diverted due to the outage, while others were delayed up to two hours.
Video footage from MailOnline shows how one of the suspects was led out of the plane under the watchful eye of armed police.
In the clip, a passenger can be heard describing the incident as a “joke that went very wrong”.
Essex Police said in a statement: “Our officers worked quickly and vigorously to resolve a security alert aboard an EasyJet flight at Stansted, bound for Amsterdam, and arrested three people.
“We received a call shortly after 7:40 PM today regarding a safety issue on an aircraft on the ground at the airport.”
It said the plane had been moved to a safe location while they conducted their investigation.
It added: ‘This meant that the runway was only closed for a short time, minimizing disruption and allowing the airport to fully reopen quickly.
An armed police officer can be seen boarding the easyJet flight to Amsterdam after a bomb hoax on the London Stansted runway on Wednesday night
The runway had to be closed for 50 minutes while the A319 passenger plane (pictured) was moved to a ‘safe area’ as dozens of other jets kept circling overhead
‘Specialist officers’ stormed the plane on Wednesday evening after reports of a ‘safety problem in an aircraft on the ground’ shortly after 7.40 pm.
Specialized officers have boarded and removed three men who have all been arrested on suspicion of making a bomb hoax and are currently in custody.
“After a search of the plane, we are sure there is nothing wrong on board.”
The saga caused multiple delays, with flights arriving and departing from the airport up to two hours later than scheduled.
Stansted Airport said earlier in the evening: ‘A flight departing from London Stansted to Amsterdam is currently parked at a remote stand while police are carrying out additional security checks.
‘The airport runway was closed for a short time, but is now fully open again.’
A spokesperson later told MailOnline: “The runway was closed for 50 minutes between 7:45 PM and 8:35 PM.
‘During that period, six inbound flights were diverted to other airports.’
Stansted Airport bosses (pictured) were forced to close the runway while moving the stricken plane to a ‘safe area’, while dozens of planes continued to circle in the sky
According to Air Live, a ‘bomb threat’ was made against the A319 passenger plane, prompting an immediate response from Essex Police
Police rushed to London Stansted after ‘security warning’ on a plane bound for Amsterdam
A flight to Barcelona was found to be delayed by more than an hour on Wednesday evening after the safety warning at Stansted
It comes just days after police arrested a man over a Jet2 bomb scare believed to have been caused by a fake phone call from Turkey that forced RAF fighter jets to intercept a passenger plane and force it to make an emergency landing, also at London Stansted.
Petrified travelers described scenes of chaos and panic aboard Turkey’s Dalaman flight to Manchester after the A321 plane was diverted to Stansted last week by two Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon jets.
Armed police surrounded the plane and searched the plane for a bomb, trapping up to 220 passengers, including young families – reportedly without giving them an explanation – for up to two hours.
Detectives said a man in his thirties had been arrested, adding that the fear was being treated as a hoax and that they were cooperating with Turkish authorities.