Man Charged As Gun ‘Joke’ Delays Flight

A HOLIDAY flight from Edinburgh airport was delayed by an hour after a passenger allegedly claimed he had a gun on board the plane.

The man is said to have joked to a stewardess on yesterday’s 9.50am flyglobespan flight to the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh that he had a firearm in his hand luggage.

The Boeing 737 with 130 passengers on board had taxied to the runway for take-off, but it was immediately halted and police were called to arrest the man.

The flight finally took off at 10.50am for the six-hour flight.

A flyglobespan spokesman said: “We can only apologise to other passengers for the disruption to their flight, but emphasise the airline totally supports the actions of the cabin and flightdeck crew.”

Lothian & Borders police said a 25-year-old man had been charged following an incident on board a plane at Edinburgh airport and was due in court later today.

* Passengers on night flights to Edinburgh this summer face being diverted to other airports in bad weather because of ongoing work to resurface a runway.

(c) 2008 Evening News; Edinburgh (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.