'Sick bag' bomb threat prompts UK flight alert
A British passenger plane en route to an Egyptian holiday resort made an emergency landing today in Brindisi, southern Italy, after the pilot reported that a bomb was suspectedto be on board.
All passengers had disembarked and were safe, state police at the airport said.
Flight operator Excel Airways said the captain had made the decision to land in Italy after a passenger found a note written on the back of an airsickness bag that read: “There’s a bomb on this aircraft.”
Excel Airways official Jane Sebuliba called the landing “a precautionary diversion.” Italy’s Air Force said it had sent an F-16 war jet to escort the plane to the airport. The airline said all security checks had been followed at London’s Gatwick airport prior to departure.
The plane, carrying 269 passengers and nine crew, was diverted to Brindisi three hours after take-off.
Salvatore De Paolis, a border police officer at Brindisi airport, said authorities searching the plane had recovered a handwritten note in English that said there was a bomb on board. He added that the search was still continuing. Excel said the flight was expected to resume later today.
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