'Anyone could have got their hands on it': Mother's outrage after finding a double-headed BLADE under seat on plane

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Louise Jerath was one of the first passengers to board the Condor flight from Manchester

A mother has told of her shock after boarding a plane with her young son and finding a blade under the seat.

Louise Jerath, 44, who now lives in Mallorca, Spain, was one of the first passengers on an early morning flight from Parma to Manchester.

After her seven-year-old son dropped his game on the floor, Louise bent down to search for it.

But she said she was left astounded after discovering a large, double-headed blade lying on the floor under the seat in front.

Ms Jerath has criticised Condor and Thomas Cook, with whom she booked the flights, for the incident, questioning how the weapon was able to get there.

She said, 'I was travelling with my-seven-year-old son, we sat down but not long after he dropped his game on the floor.

'I couldn't find it immediately so I bent down and started patting around on the floor, and that's when I saw the blade - on the floor, under the seat in front.

'I picked it up and put it on the arm of my seat thinking "what am I going to do with this?"

'I was worried they would think I had brought it on board the flight.

'It's quite scary really, when you consider why it might have been there, or what could have happened.

'I decided to take it to a stewardess and I told her I had found it on the floor and it wasn't mine.

The large double-headed blade was lying on the floor under the seat in front of Ms Jerath's seat. She had reached under to look for the game her seven-year-old son had dropped

'She just wrapped it up in tissue and said thank you. I was expecting her to take my details, or a statement from me but she didn't.'

Ms Jerath bordered the 7.55am Condor flight to Manchester, which she booked with Thomas Cook, to visit family members on 18 August.

After finding the blade, the mother-of-one initially thought another passenger must have dropped it - but quickly realised no one in the vicinity had yet been seated.

Ms Jerath said she immediately feared for the safety of her seven-year-old son who was flying with her at the time, as well as her own well-being.

Blade find: Ms Jerath took pictures of the dangerous object to hand to the airline as evidence

Ms Jerath said, 'We go through so much security before we board the plane, I have no idea how anyone would be able to get a blade through.

'I was so glad my son didn't pick it up - it's so concerning to think anyone could have got their hands on it.

'It makes you wonder - that blade could have been put there for someone else to pick up on purpose.'

After picking up the dangerous object, Louise immediately took some pictures, to hand to the airline as evidence.

She then informed cabin crew members who wrapped the blade in a tissue before disposing of it.

Ms Jerath had booked her flight through Thomas Cook and was on her way to visit family members 

Ms Jerath claims they failed to take her seriously and have since neglected to look into her allegations.

She said, 'When I picked it up there was no one sat next to, in front, or behind me, so it must have been there before we boarded.' 

A spokesman for Thomas Cook and Condor apologised for the incident and said it was being looked into.

He said, 'We'd like to reiterate our thanks to our customer for bringing this to our attention on boarding the aircraft.

'All our aircrafts are cleaned and inspected prior to each flight so we are now working with Condor, our sister airline, to investigate how - on this rare occasion - a small blade was found on board.'