Armed police have been called to reports of a 'bomb threat' at Gatwick Airport which left passengers stuck on the runway surrounded by armed officers.
One passenger told Mirror Online. that police spent five hours screening people and their luggage, however they did not find anything suspicious.
The threat, which turned out to be a hoax, involved a Turkish Airlines flight that came from Istanbul and landed in the UK at 9.20am on Sunday, Gatwick Airport has said.
In a statement, Sussex Police said: "On Sunday 19 December we received a report of an apparent bomb threat that had been made to a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul that was due to arrive at Gatwick.
"The aircraft arrived safely into Gatwick at 9.20am to a remote area of the airport while emergency services attended.
"It was swiftly established that the call did not relate to a genuine threat, everyone on board left the aircraft and passengers went on their way.
"We worked with Gatwick Airport management and with Air Traffic Control to ensure the incident was resolved quickly and safely and there was minimal impact on the normal routine of the airport. An investigation into the threat is now underway."
Passenger Eka Iakobishvili said: "We are stuck in the aircraft with special forces and machine guns surrounding the plane."
She was later told it was a 'very serious security threat'.
Dr Iakobishvili added: "Took almost five hours to screen ppl & bags… no threat found. Police handled it well."
Early reports suggested the delays could be down to 'unauthorised drone activity' or debris on the runway, however it is now clear it was a hoax bomb threat.
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