Terrifying moment armed police swarm American Airlines flight 'after banging heard at 30,000 feet'

American Airlines flight 954 departed from Buenos Aires on Thursday night and was heading towards New York, but was diverted after a 'banging noise' was heard from the cargo hold

This is the terrifying moment armed police swarm an American Airlines flight after a "banging noise" was heard at 30,000 feet and the plane was diverted.

Flight 954 departed from Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at 9.15pm on Thursday and was heading towards New York, where it was scheduled to arrive at 6.50am on Friday. However, shortly after take-off, while flying over the province of Córdoba, the plane was diverted and returned to its departure airport for an emergency landing.

According to reports, the pilot decided to return to Buenos Aires after flight attendants and some passengers heard supposed noise coming from the cargo hold of the aircraft, as if someone was trapped and was knocking from below, asking for help to get out. A journalist who was on the plane told radio station Cadena 3 that the pilot announced the plane was returning to Buenos Aires due to a problem, before revealing that there might be a person in the cargo hold.

The hold is not accessible when the aircraft is in flight, and is not used to store live cargo. Once the plane arrived back in Buenos Aires, dramatic footage shared on social media shows armed police getting ready to enter the cargo hold of the aircraft to locate the trapped person.

Clarín, the largest newspaper in Argentina, reported that the Special Tactical Assault Group (GEAT), the Explosives and Special Weapons Control Group (GEDEX), the Canine Technology Binomial were deployed to deal with the incident. Personnel from the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC), PFA Firefighters and Health were also involved in the operation.

However, once all the aircraft's cargo holds were checked, they found "negative results" and didn't spot any signs of danger. Emergency services said: "The hold was opened and the unloading of the luggage containers began, without anything outside the normal parameters being seen at the time."

The flight was eventually cancelled due to "overdue crew", meaning that the hours in which they could continue working were exceeded. However, American Airlines later rescheduled the flight.

Passengers were left frustrated over the incident, with some reporting that they were inside the plane for hours before receiving official news of the incident. A man said the "unusual" incident seemed to be "straight out of a movie" while a woman who witnessed the incident described it as "scary".

On Friday, American Airlines confirmed there was no issue on the plane and the flight would be departing later that day. The airline tweeted: "Reports of a person in cargo are not accurate.

"Flight 954 returned to Buenos Aires due to a reported noise in the cargo hold but, after a thorough search, it was determined there was no issue. Our customers will be re-departing later today and we apologize for the inconvenience."

The Mirror has contacted American Airlines and Ezeiza International Airport for comment on the incident.