Egyptair flight diverted to Glasgow after note threat found on board
An Egyptair flight from Cairo to New York was forced to land at Glasgow Prestwick Airport after a message threatening to blow it up was found on board.
Police escort passegers off the EgyptAir aircraft after it was diverted to Prestwick Airport, Ayrshire, following the discovery of a suspicious note onbaord the plane. Photo: ANDREW MILLIGAN/PA
By Patrick Sawer
4:53PM BST 15 Jun 2013
Armed police surrounded the Boeing 777 - which was travelling to JFK International Airport with 300 passengers on board - after it touched down at 2.30pm on Saturday.
The emergency came after Nada Tawfik, a BBC New York producer and passenger on board, found the note in the plane's toilet, with the words "I'll set this plane on fire", along with a seat number, written on it in English.
Miss Tawfik, who was travelling with her young daughter, said she found the note - written on a napkin with a pencil - inside the sink about three hours into the flight. She immediately reported it to cabin crew who then locked the toilet.
Before being allowed off the plane she said: "It's a bit chaotic on the plane. We are still here, as you can imagine, it's a pretty tense situation.
"No security has boarded the plane, people are out of their seats. Everyone's trying to grab what they can to drink, people are concerned, there are babies on board, everyone's very frustrated."
The flight was checked by a technical team that includes bomb disposal experts. Passengers were let off to wait inside the airport, where they were being interviewed by police.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that it launched Typhoon fighter jets to escort the plane to the Glasgow airport.
One driver reported seeing five police cars, fire engines, and ambulances travelling southbound on the A77, apparently heading for the airport.
Police confirmed a suspicious note was found on the plane and all passengers are to be interviewed.
A spokeswoman said: "At around 1420 hours today an Egyptair aircraft flying from Cairo to New York was diverted to Prestwick Airport after a suspicious note was discovered on the aircraft.
"There are no reports of anyone injured and police are currently making arrangements for the 326 passengers to disembark. All passengers will then be interviewed by police."
A Prestwick Airport spokesman said: "The (diverted) plane was on route from Cairo to JFK in New York. It is safely on the tarmac at Prestwick.
"The airport is open for business with flights arriving and taking off. The police are involved and on the scene, they have the lead in this."
The airport said all flights were operating as normal.
The incident came three weeks after two men who claimed they had a bomb tried to burst into the cockpit of a flight bound for Britain, triggering fighter jets to be scrambled to intercept the aircraft.
The Pakistan International Airlines flight from Lahore to Manchester airport with 347 passengers on board was diverted to Stansted with an escort of Typhoon jets, from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, after the pilot raised the alarm.
They were arrested on suspicion of endangering an aircraft by armed police who boarded the plane, flight PK 709, which had been diverted to Stansted about 10 minutes before it was due to land at Manchester.
