Passengers ‘shaken’ by security breach

Among those on the Edinburgh to Belfast flight on Saturday night, who witnessed the incident, were members of a Bready family returning from a family wedding. They say the experience has left them shaken.

It has since transpired that a regular passenger was able to get onto the July 9 flight by using a ticket which was not valid until July 16.

Passenger Jackie Sloan, from Dunnalong Manor, who was making the journey home with her sister and other family members, said she wanted to know how the man managed to get onto the plane past security.

“When I got home I was so shaken that I went on Facebook and posted something like ‘It’s official, airport security does not work’ and I gave a bit of a synopsis about what had happened to us,” she said, continuing: “We arrived at the airport at 5pm leaving almost two hours for check-in, so we checked in our baggage and we went straight to the departure lounge.

“When we were seated on the plane initially they said they were re-fuelling and we should leave our seatbelts off. Then they did a head count, and then there was a delay. After that the captain made an announcement that the delay was because the figures they had in the airport were not the same as those on the plane,” said Jackie.

“At one stage people laughed when the stewardesses asked everyone if they realised they were on the flight to Belfast,” Jackie said, adding that some people’s names were called and they were asked to identify themselves by pressing the overhead ‘call’ button, adding that two queries were sorted, but the delay continued.

“Then two ground staff came on and then two stewardesses turned up and one had a computer printout and they started going through the names one by one, checking people off, and only then this guy came forward and said he thought they might be looking for him.

“It was only afterwards when I thought about it that he could have been anyone and started thinking about what could have happened, that even with all the security he still got through,” she said, adding: “You cannot take a tube of foundation for your face onto a plane, but a man can walk on and cause a 35 minute delay. I’d like to know how it happened.”

A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: “The passenger in question had a valid boarding card for a future date which was accepted by checks at security and at the gate. He was subject to our usual individual and baggage screening procedures and at no point posed a threat to other passengers.

“Security is at the heart of everything that we do and we work closely with our airlines and their handling agents to ensure our passengers’ safety. We are currently reviewing the incident and once complete will put measures in place to stop this happening again.”

A spokeswoman for easyJet said: “EasyJet can confirm that a passenger incorrectly boarded an aircraft destined for Belfast on the 9th July instead of his intended departure on 16th July. As part of regular boarding procedures, the crew undertook a headcount and identified that there was an additional passenger on board. The passenger, a frequent flyer with easyJet, realised his error and identified himself to the crew once on board the plane. At no time was the safety of the passengers or crew compromised. A full investigation will be undertaken to ensure that this situation will not happen again.”