Darren Cohen, left, and Adam Walker, both of Manchester, England, stand outside McCarran International Airport after arriving Thursday on a flight from Manchester. The flight was delayed by security procedures implemented after authorities in Britain announced that they had foiled a plot by terrorists to carry liquids onto airplanes and mix them into explosives. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

For Adam Walker, a passenger on a British Midland Airways flight that was delayed more than five hours Thursday, the terrorist threat in Britain seemed more real when he saw mothers at Manchester Airport in England sipping their babies' formula.

The mothers took sips from baby bottles to prove that the liquid inside wasn't part of an explosive cocktail, Walker said after landing in Las Vegas on Thursday night.

"It was surreal," he said of the day that brought word that British authorities had foiled a terrorist plot to blow up airplanes flying from England to the United States.

The authorities said the terrorists planned to carry liquids onto flights and mix them into explosives.

Increased security measures caused major delays in airports in Britain and the United States.

It made for a long day for Walker and more than 100 other passengers en route to Las Vegas on British Midland flight BD751.

They waited for hours inside a chaotic airport in Manchester and for 2 1/2 hours inside an airplane parked on the tarmac before it was cleared to take off.

"I was quite a bit worried," Walker said. "I didn't know if the threat was specific to Manchester."

Other passengers shrugged off any potential threat.

"If it's (a terrorist attack) going to happen, it's going to happen," said Emma Button, another British Midland passenger.

She said she could carry only a few items onto the plane, such as travel documents and prescription medications, inside a plastic bag that served as a carry-on.

Authorities told her that all other items, including cell phones, had to be placed inside her checked luggage, she said.

"It's annoying, but I'll live," she said.

The delays caused several passengers on the British Midland flight to miss connecting flights. As people exited from Terminal 2 at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, some passengers rushed through the crowds, saying they needed to catch connecting flights.

Fay Balardy had missed a connecting flight to San Francisco. She walked briskly through the airport searching for a ticket counter so that she could catch a new flight.

When asked what the worst part of the flight was, she replied, "Five hours," referring to the wait.

But for the most part, passengers appeared relieved to have landed.

After arriving in Las Vegas, Walker wasn't headed immediately to a casino or a club.

"The first thing I want to do is watch the news," he said.