Police board Wizz Air flight in Luton after crew wrongly accuse passengers of stealing phone

Wizz Air flight W95004 was due to fly from the town to the Albanian capital Tirana at 3.10pm on Friday, April 25.

However passengers were told the plane was going nowhere as CCTV footage apparently showed a passenger swiping a phone in the airport.

The plane was delayed from take-off by 88 minutes due to the saga, which ended after cabin crew said there was in fact 'no item' on the plane.

Police said they are investigating, while a Wizz Air spokesperson said: “We are aware of an incident that occurred on a Wizz Air flight departing from London Luton Airport on Friday, April 25 which resulted in passengers experiencing a short delay.”

An announcement made by a member of cabin crew just before the plane was scheduled to take off said: “We know the phone is on board, now we should leave in two minutes – we cannot because of this, this is a security issue.

“We cannot have an item that does not belong to anyone on this flight. We cannot depart knowing that there’s something that does not belong to this flight.”

One 28-year-old passenger, who asked not to be named, said staff had called the missing phone and told passengers they could hear the plane's announcements when somebody picked up, leading them to believe a passenger on board had swiped it.

The passenger said: “You’d think airports would be more secure and this would be resolved much more swiftly.

“You’re not even safe at Luton airport, somewhere you think is a safe space.”

Nearly an hour after the first announcement, a different member of crew announced that staff were looking at CCTV footage to find the culprit.

He said: “We still want to give the chance for this potential person who made the mistake to bring it before they will find it in the video.

“Once again, please voluntarily come to the front or to my colleagues at the back.”

With the phone still missing, police then boarded the plane as angry passengers remained at Luton.

Then, over an hour after the flight was due to take off, exasperated cabin crew members announced to passengers that there was “no item” on the plane at all.

They said: “There’s no item on this plane, we’re happy now with our security position to go.

“I appreciate your understanding for this situation. It is for us as well quite a new one, we’re doing our best and we will be on our way to Tirana very soon.”

Wizz Air added: “The safety and security of our passengers and crew is our top priority, and we appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience as our team assisted authorities in ensuring a swift resolution to the situation.”

Bedfordshire Police said: “Our Airport Police team were called following reports of a theft of a mobile phone shortly before 3.30pm on Friday (25 April).

“Lines of enquiry were followed, and officers boarded a flight where security protocols were followed and a search was conducted, before the flight could depart.”