Man snuck on to a flight without a ticket and passengers feared a bomb was on board, report says

• A passenger hid on a Ryanair flight without a ticket, the Manchester Evening News reported.
• He got off a previous flight and hid on the jet bridge before sneaking back onto the plane.

A man sparked a security scare after getting on a flight without a ticket, the Manchester Evening News reported.

One passenger told the newspaper that her 10-year-old granddaughter was crying because people on the plane feared there was a bomb.

Barbara Watson was on the Ryanair flight on Thursday from Palma in Spain to Manchester in the UK after a family vacation. When the plane arrived at Palma, all passengers went into the terminal except the man who remained on the jet bridge before returning to the aircraft.

"The stewardesses told us that he was hiding on board in view of them waiting to see which seat was free," Watson told the newspaper.

"He sat in the seat, we got on the runway and the pilot stopped the flight and told us we'd have to go back to the gate as the numbers weren't adding up."

The man was arrested, Watson said, after a flight attendant asked to see his boarding pass. She said passengers were worried he had left something on the plane and some were asked to remove their luggage from the overhead compartments.

The 64-year-old told the newspaper that the pilot said they didn't know why the man tried to sneak back on the flight and that his behavior was suspicious.

Ryanair confirmed to Manchester Evening News that the police were requested and that it apologized to its passengers.

"The passenger was removed and the crew carried out security checks again ahead of take-off, as per Ryanair procedure," a spokesperson said.

Ryanair did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.