Singapore Airlines Bomb scare sparks plane diversion

Bomb scare sparks plane diversion

The plane made a safe landing at 1100 BST
A Singapore Airlines plane flying from Frankfurt to New York has been diverted to Manchester following a bomb threat.
The plane made a safe landing at 1100 BST without a military escort, and is being searched by police.

The plane is the fourth to be diverted because of bomb hoaxes in the last nine days, one of them to London Stansted.

On Thursday, a BA flight from Berlin to London landed in Amsterdam after a telephone call to a German radio warned there was a bomb on board.

Two Olympic Airways flights were diverted a day earlier.

Hoax?

All passengers on board have disembarked safely, and the aircraft is now being examined.

A Manchester Airport spokeswoman said the plane had 292 passengers and 19 crew members on board.

A Great Manchester Police spokeswoman said: “Early indications are that it could be a hoax, but we cannot confirm that one way or another until full checks are carried out.”

Singapore Airlines said the landing in Manchester was prompted by information received by German authorities.

She did not confirm any further details about the nature of the threat.

“The nature of the incident was not the result of anything which occurred on the aircraft involving passengers or crew,” a statement issued by Singapore Airlines said.

Last Thursday, a British Airways flight from Berlin to London was diverted to Amsterdam and later given the all-clear by authorities before continuing its journey to Heathrow.

But the passengers arrived in London on a separate plane.

On Wednesday, an Olympic Airways flight from Athens to New York landed in Ireland after a Greek newspaper received an anonymous phone call warning there was a bomb on board, but nothing suspicious was found during the inspection.

A second Olympic Airways plane had to be diverted to Stansted airport after a similar alert.

This time, the plane with 301 people on board was escorted to Stansted, near London.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3713312.stm