A scary moment aboard a British Airways flight taking off from Cyprus: Holiday jet passenger tells of terror alert.

A DUNDEE University graduate told last night how he and his family found themselves at the centre of a terror alert when a passenger on board their holiday flight started shouting slogans linked with Muslim extremism, forcing the flight to be aborted and evacuation of their plane.

James Dargie (32), a 1995 geography graduate now working as a marine data manager with the Countryside Council for Wales, told how passengers “screamed with terror” when a man of Muslim origin started shouting “Allah Achbar” or “God is Great” as their plane taxied for take-off at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus yesterday afternoon.

Mr Dargie, who had boarded London-bound BA flight 663 with his wife Mona and young son Tomos just minutes earlier, told how a “wave of panic” spread among passengers as the chanting began.

As airline staff tried to ascertain what was happening, the captain announced that the flight was being aborted before it had even begun and all passengers and crew would have to leave the aircraft.

As security personnel boarded the plane, the disruptive passenger was quickly taken into custody and all other passengers were required to disembark.

All passengers had to reclaim their luggage while further checks of the aircraft were made.

Speaking to The Courier in a rushed call from Larnaca Airport via his mobile phone, Mr Dargie said, “We were just starting to taxi when this Bangladeshi-looking man starts shouting in Urdu or Arabic and then going ‘Allah Achbar! Allah Achbar!’

“I’m not sure if he was with his wife or mother, but he looked like he might have been blind or even suffering a panic attack.

“Whatever, it was very frightening—and with September 11 still fresh in people’s minds, folk were keen to get off that plane.

“We’re now in the airport and don’t know what’ll be happening next, but we’ve had to reclaim our bags and await further instructions.”

Last night a spokesman for British Airways confirmed there had in fact been three disruptive passengers on board the aircraft and the captain had decided to “offload them.”