Passenger action @ EGCC 22nd Sept
Hi,
First post so please no flames if it's not appropriate for this forum.
Was on BA1399 MAN-LHR last night and we were held on the ground for 90-100 minutes while firstly 2 and then 4 police negotiated with a passenger further down the aircraft.
After passengers in the aisle seats were cleared, the police and two passengers calmly left and after a quick search for their bags and wait for a new slot the plane took off.
Can anyone enlighten me as to what the problem was? There were all sorts of 'interesting' theories being circulated around the passengers (good to see the pack mentality and rumour mill in action in a closed environment at work!) and the captain's explanation which went along the lines of "she wasn't supposed to be on the plane" didn't really help.
Obviously a fairly significant security breach has happened here - but it doesn't seem to have made the press. I accept that in reality it's none of my business however given that something significant had happened I thought BA might have been a bit more forthcomming with information.
Not aiming criticisim of the crew who handled it well (apart from the Purser, who despite knowing that at least 12 passengers had missed their connections to Jo'burg, was only able to read from the script when we departed (after 100 minutes sitting on the ground "welcome aboard" etc) and then when we arrived - ("See inside for flight connections, we hope you enjoyed your flight, thank you for flying ba".....etc) but someone at either BA groundstaff or Manchester airport has obviously made a big c**kup somwhere.
Partly just curiosity and partly concern that in this day and age 'the wrong person' can actually get past 4 separate checks (3 of them involving ID) and onto the plane.
Thanks in advance for any info.