Plane makes emergency landing in Sweden after bomb threat
A plane carrying 273 people from Canada to Pakistan has made an emergency landing at Stockholm's Arlanda airport because of a bomb threat on board.
Published: 8:06AM BST 25 Sep 2010
The pilot decided to land the Boeing 777 after Canadian police received a tip that a passenger on board was carrying explosives, Stockholm police spokeswoman Sussie Illum said. The plane landed safely at Arlanda airport in Sweden and was parked at the end of the landing strip as police prepared to remove the passenger, who was then arrested. Bomb technicians headed to the scene.
Passengers were later evacuated from the Pakistan International Airlines plane. Another police spokesman, Janne Hedlund, said the suspect was a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin. "He is not on any list (of people banned from flying) and he's been through the security check in Canada," Hedlund said. "We're in contact with the pilot. Everything is calm on board."
The police were taking the threat seriously, but were still investigating whether the man had explosives. "A person was arrested for planning to sabotage an airplane," Stockholm police spokesman Kjell Lindgren said. "The passengers have been evacuated and the suspect who was onboard the plane has been taken to a police post." The plane was on its way from Toronto to Karachi when the pilot requested permission to land in Stockholm. The airport remained open to air traffic.
