A TILLICOULTRY couple’s dream holiday to Las Vegas turned into a nightmare when their plane home was diverted to Canada because of a bomb alert.

Calum Hendrie and his girlfriend Kirsty Sharp were travelling home from their first-ever trip to the famous American city of sin, where they visited on route to celebrating a friend’s wedding in Chicago, when they were subjected to one of the most dramatic and emotional journeys imaginable.

The British Airways flight 247 that departed Las Vegas at 9.25am local time, had to be diverted to Montreal, Canada, after the airline received a telephone call about the possibility of a suspicious package on the aircraft.

Calum, who currently plays football for local side Sauchie Juniors, told the Advertiser of the drama that unfolded in the cabin from the moment of the captain’s initial shock announcement until the end of a nerve-shredding one-hour trip to Canada for aid that left the passengers and crew alike fearing for their lives.

Calum said: “All of the lights in the cabin were out as the majority of the passengers were asleep, then all of a sudden the lights came on and the captain told us there was a suspicion of a bomb on the plane. The moment the pilot spoke the words ‘red alert’ and ‘suspicions of a device on board’ then there was just sheer panic on board. The pilot tried his best to dress it up by use of the word ‘device’, but everyone immediately knew what he was talking about.

“Passengers were sobbing throughout the plane with the fear of dying because it is only natural for that to run through your head. The cabin crew then conducted a thorough search of the plane and couldn’t find anything, but it did little to ease the mood of the visibly shaken cabin.

“We then had a nervous hour on board as we were redirected to Montreal airport. Once we arrived, there was another 15 minute delay before the stairs arrived to allow us to leave the plane, but passengers were demanding the shoots be deployed so we could exit as quickly as possible, but they weren’t allowed. Your first instinct once the plane lands is to get off as quickly as possible so that only made the tension even worse.

“The army and bomb squad of the Canadian police were then waiting for us on the runway. We were greeted by some 20 or 30 police cars as well racing towards us.

“The entire plane was then evacuated across the runway where we were all searched by both the sniffer dogs and officers by hand. It was absolutely chaotic.” The frightened passengers were then subjected to a gruelling seven-hour wait in the airport as they were held in a secured area of the terminal building as the ill-fated trip went from bad to worse, but the 25-year-old is determined to hold the airline to account for the horror experience and says they will be seeking compensation.

He added: “Once we were searched on the ground, it took a further seven hours in the airport for all our luggage to be searched as we waited in a cordoned off section of the terminal. We were then put up in a hotel overnight before having to come back the next day to fly home on the same plane.

“We even missed our connecting flights once we got to London so that was a further delay and our bags only arrived home a few days after us. I don’t think anything else could have gone wrong. I definitely think the airline has a few questions to answer because it definitely ruined a special holiday for us.” The airline are confident that they followed all of the necessary procedures when such a threat is made to one of their aircrafts, but they are willing to discuss any further complaints with customers who were on board the traumatic flight.

A spokesperson for British Airways said: “We are sorry for the delays customers faced but the safety and security of them is our highest priority at all times. We provided hotel rooms and meals for all of the delayed customers and rebooked them on to other flights as soon as we could. We are now in the process of speaking to all customers to discuss any further issues or queries they may have.”