Live Ammunition discovered on board Aer Arran flight?

[starone]

Before all of you hit the post reply button, the following has been relayed to me by a usually reliable source, please lets not turn this into media bashing, just some info then it can be ignored...also i understand you may be paying for your internet access while temporarily in the far east or elsewhere but i don't want any snotty nosed fool moaning that this shouldn't be here...it is a NEWS item, which i would like to discuss and if untrue then it is RUMOUR, i don't want to bump into it in SLF, Crew or Northumberland. Thank you.

Is it true that an RE flight ex ork(?) was surrounded by police upon arr in edi last night due to live ammunition being found in the cabin as the aircarft began it's descent. apparently it had been in the cabin for some considerable time?

What happened, how could it be missed, how long was the aircraft there, was the aircraft delayed upon it's return, have they charged anybody?

Many thanks and if you're in foreign climes i hope this hasn't ruined your day and you not being charged by the BAHT or SHEKEL to read this.

[Notso Fantastic]

That's a very peculiar posting style, but if you like it, what the hell! Why don't we find out if it happened or whether you are on the butt end of a rumour before asking searching questions! In aviation like nowhere else, the distance between first reports and actual events is far!

[Callum Johnstone]

From today's Edinburgh Evening News
(www.edinburghnews.com)

Stray bullet on plane sparks alert at airport

A stray bullet found on an international flight sparked a massive security alert at Edinburgh Airport.

Armed police surrounded the flight from Cork in Ireland when it landed yesterday afternoon following reports a passenger had spotted the live ammunition on the floor of the cabin shortly before landing. They reported it to the cabin crew who told the pilot and he immediately called ahead initiating a huge security operation involving armed police officers, Special Branch and fire crews.

The 38 passengers on board were searched as soon as the plane landed, before police

investigations concluded the ammunition did not belong to anyone on board the scheduled Aer Arann Express flight RE463.

It is thought the bullet had been taken on to the plane at some point before it set off from Cork airport just before midday yesterday - and may have been rolling around on board for sometime.

An airport insider said: "The flight was about 15 minutes out of Edinburgh. The captain called air traffic control at Edinburgh and declared an emergency stating ‘live ammunition’ had been discovered on board the flight - that was his exact phrase.

"In a conversation after the flight had landed, the captain stated that he was now in possession of the ‘offending item’."

On landing, passengers were instructed to stay on board and full emergency procedures were put into place, as the aircraft was met by fire fighters, Special Branch officers and armed police.

Worried about the bullet, which is understood to have been a 9mm live round, police surrounded the plane and led the passengers off the plane in small groups.

One eye-witness, who did not want to be named, said: "There were three tactical support units and two armed police units on the runway. There were police with guns surrounding the plane.

"They took the passengers off in groups of four. It was quite a dramatic scene."

Officers spent the afternoon interviewing the passengers but, as it became apparent the incident was not as serious as initially feared, they were gradually allowed to leave the airport and continue on with their journeys.

One police insider said: "There does not appear to have been any link between the bullet and anybody on board the plane."

Niamh Murphy, spokeswoman for Aer Arann said: "We can confirm that an incident occurred and that the RE463 flight which left Cork at 11.55am and landed at 1.30pm was met by members of Lothian and Borders Police.

"There were 38 passengers on board and all were allowed to leave the aircraft. We have been advised that because this is an active investigation we cannot comment further."

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police added: "A full physical search was carried out of all 38 passengers and their baggage as well as that of the crew and of course the plane itself.

"All the details of everybody on the plane were also checked. After a full investigation at the scene everybody was allowed to proceed with their journey and the plane was allowed to resume service."

Aer Arann Express launched its Edinburgh-Cork service in August last year to compete with Irish budget airline Ryanair’s Edinburgh-Dublin routes.

[Hansard]

How times change! Fifteen years ago I took a flight from Scandinavia to Scotland in a Metroliner (no separate cargo hold) with a load of shotguns and ammunition stacked up behind a "cargo" net at the back - the other passengers were members of a shooting party.

[Ignition Override]

A pistol round (with a copper jacket) was found in our overhead compartment at the gate, just a few months ago.

All of the passengers had been gone for a few minutes. There was no record of any Federal Air Marshall having flown on that ship number, on that day.

On the other hand, as was the case years ago, we still have sherriffs or policemen, even personnel with the US Postal Service able to carry a loaded gun onboard, even if they are carrying nothing else with them, and NOT escorting anyone!

It must be quite a powerful feeling, mostly an enhancement of one's manhood, to carry a weapon anytime you travel, whether required in the performance of one's duties, or not (mostly the case in a plane).;)

[starone]

Notso- sorry for the posting stlye, just that reading lots of other posts here and on other threads, there seems to be a lot of people who feel a misposted thread is like an boil on the rear end for them, just didn't want to be shouted at by another poster!! No probs being shouted at by mods though, of course.

Thanks for info, wonder will they ever find it's origins?

[My names Turkish]

Is it just me or was declaring an Emergency completly OTT. I mean it was a single bullet? I realize that procedure must be followed and I know the times that we live in but armed police surrounding the plane, an afternoon INTERVIEWING the passengers, for one bullet? Seems like the worlds gone mad. I can just see the next news headlines "Unacompanied nail file discovered, captain begins emergency descent"

N.B Not a personal attack on the crew. I know they were following procedure, but its still silly.

[DFC]

Question;

Which Airport's security system missed the bullet?

DFC

[jetstream7]

My Names Turkish

The crew's actions and subsequently the Police's actions were not OTT.

The crew couldn't have known if there was the one bullet or whether there was more, or indeed if there was a weapon on board

The Police couldn't have known if the bullet was taken on by one of passengers or whether it had been there for sometime

All seems sensible to me given the world we live in.

DFC

Good question - don't Aer Arran fly to a number ok GB airports now from Cork?
It could have been one of a number of airports (assuming the bullet had been on board for sometime ...i.e. more than just that day's flights)

[OFBSLF]

It must be quite a powerful feeling, mostly an enhancement of one's manhood, to carry a weapon anytime you travel, whether required in the performance of one's duties, or not (mostly the case in a plane).As one who often carries a firearm (but not on aircraft), I can say that I have no such feelings at all. The main things that I notice when carrying a firearm are that 1) I have to pull up my trousers rather more often (and more carefully), 2) I use more care when bending and when outside on a windy day, and 3) I'm more aware of the people around me. YMMV.

[My names Turkish]

Jetstream,

Yes your right, you make a good point and I've changed my mind.

[corsair]

Having carried a gun once or twice in my military days I can't say I felt more macho mostly just aware of it weighing heavily on my hip the more so the longer you wear it.

The finding of the live round on the Aer Arann aircraft is quite serious. Handguns are banned both in Ireland and Britain for everyone except police. Hence the OTT reaction. In Ireland the only police who carry handguns routinely are detectives and they would clear it when flying. Aer Arann flies domestic flights so it's possble a detective Garda may have flown on the aircraft previously but no doubt there would be record of that.

Therefore the most logical conclusion of the crew would be that there was someone with an illegal weapon on board.

[sdpp99]

ammo is dull if you've got access to it ..

but scary if it's forbidden.

back in 1987, I was in portugal (as a student on holiday ...)

some portugese conscript gives 7.62 (?) bullet to girlie on train.

she gives bullet to me (before leaving country ..)

I'm amused ... give it to angolan PHd student ... He's alarmed ...

Northern Irish students highly amused ... they could think of many people to post it to .... "bang bang .. we know where you live"


It's context sensitive ... if you know what I mean