What are you talking about BOAC?
- I am 'talking' about the fact that the 'threat' could well have been discovered many hours earlier than the diversion, and that most of us would not just throw the aircraft on the ground in haste at the 'nearest suitable' thinking of Swissair but would take the usual approach to such threats, which I'm sure you are aware of. Why was Prestwick selected, do you think and not Vienna/Frankfurt/Amsterdam/Hamburg/Copenhagen etc etc?? Why no evacuation? Do you know for sure it was an "emergency descent"?
There have been many such 'messages', from pranksters through to disgruntled c/crew, and I do not know of any that have been 'real' - though of course there may have been some. There are well-established procedures for handling such. Yes, it would probably been unwise to continue en-route, but that decision would have been taken in a measured way and not, I think, in a panic.
- actually I have, several times.