Fighter Jet News
F-16 Fighting Falcon News
Italian F-16 scrambled to excort Excel Airways 767 after bomb threat
August 18, 2006 (by
) -
A British passenger plane to Egypt diverted to a southern Italian airport Friday after the pilot reported that a bomb was suspected to be on board, Italian aviation officials said.
Authorities searching the plane found a handwritten note in English that said there was a bomb on the plane, Salvatore De Paolis, a spokesman for border police at the airport, told SKY TG 24 television news.
All 280 passengers were safe and had exited the plane, state police at the airport said.
The Excel Airways Boeing 767 requested an emergency landing in Brindisi because of what was described as a suspected bomb, the Italian air traffic agency ENAV said.
The plane was flying from London's Gatwick airport to Hurghada, Egypt, ENAV said.
Italy's Air Force said it had sent an F-16 to intercept the plane before it landed.
Excel spokeswoman Jane Sebuliba said the landing was "a precautionary diversion" and declined further comment, saying Excel planned to say more soon.
There has been a series of aviation-related terror alerts and scares in the wake of British authorities' announcement last week that they had foiled a plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights with liquid explosives.
All 280 passengers were safe and had exited the plane, state police at the airport said.
The Excel Airways Boeing 767 requested an emergency landing in Brindisi because of what was described as a suspected bomb, the Italian air traffic agency ENAV said.
The plane was flying from London's Gatwick airport to Hurghada, Egypt, ENAV said.
Italy's Air Force said it had sent an F-16 to intercept the plane before it landed.
Excel spokeswoman Jane Sebuliba said the landing was "a precautionary diversion" and declined further comment, saying Excel planned to say more soon.
There has been a series of aviation-related terror alerts and scares in the wake of British authorities' announcement last week that they had foiled a plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights with liquid explosives.
Related articles:
Forum discussion:
Tags
- Double scramble by Italian F-16s (2005-07-12)
- Dutch F-16s scramble for stray Boeing 737 (2006-06-24)
- Israeli F-16s scramble to intercept parachutist (2006-05-26)
- Two F-16s from Buckley AFB scrambled to escort suspect airliner (2006-04-22)
- F-16 Fighting Falcon news archive
Forum discussion:
- Start a discussion about this article in the F-16.net forum.
Tags