EDI this evening has ground to a halt - security alert...
Jul 22, 2004, 12:49 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: UK
Posts: 2,483
EDI this evening has ground to a halt - security alert...
My partner was on an incoming EZ flight to EDI this evening and was held on the tarmac for 40 mins due to a bomb scare. Quite a few aircraft backed up on taxiway waiting to get in.
Apparantly involved a BMI airplane on stand?
Loads of late flights now and a couple of cancellations. Pity the passengers on the last flights in the queue - they'll never get a taxi.....chaos at the best of times...
Apparantly involved a BMI airplane on stand?
Loads of late flights now and a couple of cancellations. Pity the passengers on the last flights in the queue - they'll never get a taxi.....chaos at the best of times...
Jul 28, 2004, 4:55 am
#2
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: London. Edinburgh, Cornwall
Programs: BA GGL, British Midland Lifetime* Loser
Posts: 7,950
Was indeed a BD aircraft. Some joker left a threatening note in a seat pocket which was found by cleaners on the turnaround. Thought this diary item about one of my colleagues in today's edition of The Scotsman might be of interest. (It's not easy to find via the weblink, so I'll just paste it here).
Sour note as whistle-blower gets carried away
"BE ALERT," Lord Healey once told us. "Britain needs lerts." But we are not so sure after an American lady phoned our intrepid reporter Will Lyons the other day. Her BMI British Midland flight BD64 had been delayed at Edinburgh Airport.
"We can’t get on our flight. They’re not telling us what’s wrong, but I can smell a story. I always ring The Scotsman with my scoops."
Will thanked her and rang BAA, which confirmed that there was indeed a delay after staff had found a threatening note on board. He then phoned back his informant and explained it was due to the note on board.
The excitement was obviously too much for our not-so-quiet American, who could not resist blabbing to anyone who would listen about what had happened.
Meanwhile, our mild-mannered reporter had retired to the gym (young reporters are a different breed these days: pushing up bars rather than propping them up). But as Will worked out, he received a call from one of Lothian and Borders’ finest. They had in custody an American woman who had been overheard discussing details of the delayed flight, such as a note, which were not yet in the public domain.
Will managed to clear his source with the polis, but it did not prevent her missing her flight to London and the ensuing connection.
"BE ALERT," Lord Healey once told us. "Britain needs lerts." But we are not so sure after an American lady phoned our intrepid reporter Will Lyons the other day. Her BMI British Midland flight BD64 had been delayed at Edinburgh Airport.
"We can’t get on our flight. They’re not telling us what’s wrong, but I can smell a story. I always ring The Scotsman with my scoops."
Will thanked her and rang BAA, which confirmed that there was indeed a delay after staff had found a threatening note on board. He then phoned back his informant and explained it was due to the note on board.
The excitement was obviously too much for our not-so-quiet American, who could not resist blabbing to anyone who would listen about what had happened.
Meanwhile, our mild-mannered reporter had retired to the gym (young reporters are a different breed these days: pushing up bars rather than propping them up). But as Will worked out, he received a call from one of Lothian and Borders’ finest. They had in custody an American woman who had been overheard discussing details of the delayed flight, such as a note, which were not yet in the public domain.
Will managed to clear his source with the polis, but it did not prevent her missing her flight to London and the ensuing connection.
Jul 28, 2004, 10:14 am
#3
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: CGN and LON
Programs: U2(ha!), LH, BA, VS, BD(RIP)
Posts: 94
I think I was sat near said American lady in Wetherspoons last Thursday night... she did seem rather excited. Probably because she was the only person in the terminal who knew what was actually going on... the rest of us had to listen to a constant stream of announcements along the lines of 'bmi flight BD63 is delayed indefinitely due to operational reasons'... I was waiting for BA1463 to LHR which finally boarded about 75 minutes late.
After a little while, BA upped the ante by changing their 'operational reasons' to 'due to an earlier security breach'
which I don't think made anyone feel any more comfortable.
Finally got home in just under 5 hours desk to door, which was worse than the usual 3.5 hours but much better than the 5.5 hours it seems to take whenever I go EDI-LON with EZY via STN. (EZY passengers got a particularly raw deal last Thurs -- SleazyJet were the only airline actually cancelling flights...)
After a little while, BA upped the ante by changing their 'operational reasons' to 'due to an earlier security breach'
which I don't think made anyone feel any more comfortable.Finally got home in just under 5 hours desk to door, which was worse than the usual 3.5 hours but much better than the 5.5 hours it seems to take whenever I go EDI-LON with EZY via STN. (EZY passengers got a particularly raw deal last Thurs -- SleazyJet were the only airline actually cancelling flights...)