Virgin Atlantic flight from Dubai to London Heathrow evacuated after bomb threat
Passengers are going through extra security checks
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An entire planeload of passengers on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Dubai to London Heathrow has been evacuated from the aircraft following a bomb threat.
After boarding the flight, passengers were told to exit the plane and head back to the gate following the captain’s admission that a bomb threat had been received by the airline.
“We were just moving and then the captain called his flight crew immediately and they all ran up the front,” a passenger from flight VS401 told the Daily Mail.
“Ten minutes later we were told to get off. The captain just came out and said Virgin take the safety of passengers very seriously - following the events in Manchester, Virgin had received a bomb threat so as precaution they have asked everyone to leave the plane.”
Passengers are now going through security for a second time and receiving full body scans.
“Our customers travelling on the VS401 from Dubai to London Heathrow have temporarily disembarked the aircraft for additional security checks,” a Virgin spokesperson told The Independent.
“This is purely as a precautionary measure as the safety of our customers and crew is our number one priority and we’re planning to have everyone on their way as quickly as possible.”
The passenger told the Mail: “Someone said they saw a bomb disposal truck and said it out loud, but it wasn't. It was just a normal fire truck.
“Everyone's a bit on edge.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments