Manchester: Grandma thought there was a bomb on the Ryanair flight

A granny traveling on a Ryanair flight suspects a bomb may explode after an unidentified man sneaked onto the plane.

Barbara Watson, 64, had just spent a relaxing holiday in Mallorca and flew back to Manchester from Palma on Thursday afternoon.

But she was scared when a man from the previous flight managed to sneak onto her flight without a ticket.

Her fears and suspicions then grew as Grandma thought of the worst-case scenario.

She said: “It was an absolute fiasco.

“Many children cried, including my 10-year-old granddaughter, because she heard someone say there might be a bomb on board.

“Stewardesses searched all the lockers and told everyone to leave their own bags.

“Everyone was mad with worry and the stewards had to come in with water jugs for anyone who was stuck there with the engine roaring.”

At one point, Barbara became deeply concerned for the well-being of her 76-year-old partner.

She continued, “My partner was by my side. He has terminal cancer and a heart attack.

“He was using his spray and I had to calm him down so he wouldn’t get another one.

“The plane that came in, everyone got off and one person stayed on the bridge and hid.

“When we all got to the bridge, he mingled with us and went back on board.

“The stewardesses told us that he was hiding on board, waiting to see what seat was available.

“He sat in the seat, we got on the runway and the pilot stopped the flight and told us we had to go back to the gate as the numbers were wrong.

“The lead steward wanted to see his boarding pass but apparently he didn’t have one because he got off the plane and got back on for whatever reason nobody knows. Then someone came and arrested him.

“The captain was great, he came over and told us he had been arrested and they didn’t know why he did it but he was acting suspicious.

“It was a fantastic holiday so it’s a shame it ended badly.”

Due to the incident, the flight took off an hour and 20 minutes later than scheduled at 6:39 p.m.

A Ryanair spokesman said: “The crew of this flight from Palma to Manchester (4 August) have called police for assistance before take-off after identifying a passenger who was not booked on this flight.

“The passenger was removed and the crew re-performed security checks prior to take-off, in accordance with Ryanair’s procedure.

“We are working with our dispatch agents in Palma to ensure this error does not recur.

“Ryanair sincerely apologizes to the affected passengers for the inconvenience caused.”

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