Countless number of travellers was left stranded penultimate week when their flight was cancelled because a mobile hotspot named “Jihadi London” was detected before the plane could takeoff.
The flight TOM039 was due to board passengers heading to Gatwick in London from the Mexican tourist resort of Cancun
According to reports, the WiFi network “Jihadi London was spotted by a passenger which result in the plane been grounded.
A passenger on board Carey Middleton said: “Everyone had boarded and it was all okay for a while but before we left the stand, the captain announced a passenger had told or shown a crew member a ‘hot point’ had appeared on their phone saying ‘Jihadi London’. He said he needed to tell us this as it was only on our aircraft and obviously very concerning and he couldn’t depart knowing this. He asked that if anyone knew anything about this they should come forward.
Carey Middleton further disclose that “After about 20 to 30 minutes, company’s security team had security checked all passengers and deemed there was no risk. Although the captain said he wouldn’t fly unless he was 100% sure it was safe, and he felt it was okay after the extra security checks, some passengers still wanted to leave. As they needed to unload their baggage, this then put the crew over their mandatory hours and we were unable to fly.”
Speaking on the incident, the Manager of Thomson Airways said: “We would like to apologize to our customers who were delayed, due to a potential security concern raised before take-off on TOM039 from Cancun to London Gatwick. A full security check took place as a precautionary measure on the aircraft and we made arrangements to reschedule the flight and return customers home as quickly as possible.
