British plane diverted to Italy after bomb scare
From cnn.com
Quote:
ROME, Italy (AP) -- 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.
Series of terror alerts
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.
A 59-year-old woman caused a security scare when she allegedly passed notes to crew members, urinated on the floor and made comments the crew believed were references to al Qaeda and the September 11 attacks on the London-to-Washington flight on Wednesday.
United 923, with 182 passengers and 12 crew members, was diverted to Boston and landed safely -- with two fighter jets escorting it -- after the pilot declared an emergency on board.
And West Virginia airport terminal was evacuated Thursday after two bottles of liquid found in a woman's carryon luggage twice tested positive for explosives residue.
Chemical tests later Thursday turned up no explosives in the bottles, and the airport was reopened after nearly 10 hours.
As many as 17 people have been arrested in Pakistan in connection with the London terror plot, but federal officials have said they have no indications that Mayo had any links to terrorism.
