Armed police remove stowaway from Gatwick-bound plane
A stowaway on a plane bound for Gatwick was removed by police after being spotted on a packed Norwegian Airlines plane in Barcelona.
The Eastern European woman had managed to slip past security, and fellow passengers reportedly noticed she was showing off multiple passports.
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The plane was evacuated and passengers rushed to get off the plane after fearing the woman could be a terrorist.
Speaking to The Sun, Julia Hilton, 30, an Oxford University worker, said: "It was terrifying. We didn't know if she was a terrorist. Police with guns arrived and there was a rush to get off. A mum and baby got squashed."
Norwegian Airlines spokesperson Tonje Naess told Norway's Nettavisen news site that cabin crew alerted police after they found an extra passenger during a routine head count.
According to thelocal.no, Naess said: "We will not speculate on what happened before our crew discovered the woman inside the plane, but our routine procedure exposed that there was a person with no documentation on board."
After around 90 minutes, all the 177 passengers re-boarded.
According to the Evening Standard, an airline spokesman said: "Norwegian can confirm that a passenger was removed from flight DY5164 from Barcelona to London on 19 September after boarding the aircraft without appropriate documentation.
"Police were advised and escorted the passenger off the aircraft. As a safety precaution, all passengers were offloaded and the aircraft was searched before departing as usual.
"Whilst such incidents are rare, we take them very seriously and we would like to commend the Captain and crew for the professional manner in which they handled the situation in order for the service to continue to London."
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