An Olympic Airlines jet has been given the all-clear after it spent the night at Stansted airport because of a bomb scare.
The flight had reportedly been en route from Athens to New York when a Greek newspaper took three phone calls in which there were references to a bomb on board the plane.
In what airport authorities are calling “full emergency conditions”, two RAF jets were scrambled to accompany the flight, with 300 people on board, into the Essex airport.
After a six-hour search of the aircraft and all its cargo, the BBC News website reports, the plane was due to continue its journey to New York.
One passenger was quoted as saying: “It was very calm on the plane. Everyone seemed to stay very calm until we landed and then the atmosphere changed.
“British security men armed with machine guns came on board and told everyone to leave their bags and get off as quickly as possible. We left our bags either on the tarmac or the plane and ran towards some coaches that were waiting.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd
