Bomb scare twist as new theory reveals what sparked panic on packed Air New Zealand flight at Sydney Airport

A passenger on the Air New Zealand flight who was exposed to a bomb threat at Sydney Airport on Saturday evening has revealed a new theory about what caused it.

“Maybe there was a note on the plane – that’s what caused it – so we all assumed the note was picked up on the plane,” Penny Nel said. Radio New Zealand.

The flight carrying 140 passengers from Wellington landed in Sydney about 5.40pm but was left parked and isolated on the tarmac after a bomb threat was reported on board.

Up to 40 emergency services, including heavily armed officers, responded to the threat.

Ms Nel said she didn’t notice anything during the flight until they almost arrived in Sydney.

“There was a little bit of movement near the cockpit, I guess probably about 15 minutes before we landed. I thought, ‘Oh, there’s a lot of activity up there,’ but that’s about it.”

She said she had not seen the note herself and, “Hopefully it was just a ruse and it was just someone playing the crazy goat and causing such a huge amount of disruption.”

The Wellington woman, who was on her way to Australia to meet her husband and their daughter, said the pilot was speaking over the intercom as the plane stopped in Sydney.

“He said… there’s a little problem, there’s a safety problem and we’ve been told to stay where we are.”

Passengers initially thought it had something to do with King Charles’ earlier arrival, but not with their plane.

But after an hour on the ground, the person sitting next to Ms. Nel showed her a news report on their phone about a bomb threat and said it was about their flight.

She said that when word got around on the plane, one of the passengers became “very excited and scared.”

“He was very loud and it took a few members of the cabin crew – who were excellent – ​​to calm him down and lower the tone as he was clearly causing anxiety to the rest of the passengers,” she said.

Ms Nel said people then thought: ‘Why don’t you let us off the plane if there is a bomb? I think that’s what everyone thought.’

Shortly afterwards, she and others on board noticed all the police cars, ambulances and people in high-vis vests near the plane.

“It all started to feel quite real, I think, at that point,” she said.

Despite the traumatic situation, she said some people on the plane managed to make a few jokes and be pragmatic about what happened.

The cabin crew and pilot kept them regularly informed.

When they were finally allowed off the plane, the passengers had to line up in a room with their suitcases while a sniffer dog checked them all.

Up to 40 emergency services, including heavily armed officers (pictured), responded to the threat

Each passenger was also taken aside by a police officer and questioned.

It then took another hour for their luggage to get through on the carousel, ‘so that must have been some kind of screening too, I think,’ says Mrs Nel.

She said the police officers who spoke to the passengers did so in a supportive manner.

“They weren’t intimidating. Very polite… they couldn’t have been more professional… we actually felt very confident that they were there,” Ms Nel told the radio station.

Speaking after the scare on Saturday evening, she said she didn’t think she would get much sleep.

“I feel a little excited…just the adrenaline still flowing.”

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Air New Zealand and Sydney Airport for comment on whether a note was found on the plane.