Flight from Orlando surrounded by bomb squad at Manchester Airport after 'suspicious package' found on board

A flight from Orlando was surrounded by bomb squad teams after landing in Manchester Airport after reports of a 'suspicious package' being found on board.

The Virgin flight, that landed at around midday on Thursday (September 21) after flying in from Orlando, was met by emergency services after a member of cabin crew uncovered the suspicious 'item of interest' mid-flight.

The plane was immediately evacuated after landing and a cordon was put in place around the aircraft while assessments on the item were carried out by specialists from the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team.

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It is understood that authorities and Manchester Airport were informed of the discovery at around 10.45am, around an hour before the flight eventually touched down.

A scene remained in place for a number of hours amid investigations before it was found the package posed no threat. The incident was stood down shortly before 4pm.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: “Police were called to a report of a suspicious package on an inbound flight to Terminal 2 of Manchester Airport at around 10:45am today (21 September 2023).

“In line with standard procedure, the plane was evacuated and a cordon put in place as a safety precaution while an assessment was carried out by the Explosive Ordinance Disposal team.

"The package was recovered and tests confirmed it posed no threat. The cordon was subsequently lifted once deemed safe to do so."

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told the M.E.N: “We can confirm that an item of interest was found