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PIA flight from Lahore being escorted by fighter jets after incident

Apparently someone phoned the Manchester Airport ATC wrt a bomb threat and it was then diverted to Stanstead.

A BBC reporter on the radio in Islamabad said that the security at Lahore airport isn't up to international standards.

yeah it was initially reported about the bomb hoax. Now it is being said that the pilot pressed the Panic button from the airplane which triggered alarm in the control room. So they informed the authorities and all these arrangements have been done without knowing the reason of panic. Police says that something has happened but they are not sure about it. They are trying to contact the pilot again.
 
Pilot 'requested diversion due to disruptive passenger'

The Guardian reports that the pilot of the plane that has been diverted to Stansted Airport asked for this to happen because he was concerned about a disruptive passenger who had started shouting
:cuckoo:
 
Now they are saying that the pilot received a phone call from the passenger and he informed the control room about the potential threat.
 
It's not a terrorist attack so don't worry
 
ap-bid_may24.jpg
 
just heard on the news....
The flight was directed away from manchester...masde to fly over north sea and land at a far far away section of heathrow..
 
BBC News - RAF Typhoons scrambled after Pakistan Airline incident

RAF Typhoons scrambled after Pakistan Airline incident

RAF Typhoon jets have been launched to investigate an incident involving a civilian aircraft within UK airspace, the Ministry of Defence has said.

A Pakistan International Airlines plane has been diverted from Manchester to Stansted Airport, a Manchester Airport spokesman said.

An Essex Police spokeswoman added: "An incident has occurred on an aircraft. Police and partners are responding."

The BBC understands that the plane has now landed in Stansted.

BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said that police were expected to meet the plane at the airport.

The plane, flight number PK709, reportedly left Lahore at 09:35 local time. It was due in at Manchester at 14:00 BST.

The MoD said responsibility for the incident had now passed to Essex Police and the Home Office. The MoD was not able to say how serious a threat there was on board.

An MoD spokesman said the incident was now a police matter and that "our involvement is over".

He said Typhoon jets could be scrambled after the pilot or crew of a passenger aircraft sends out an emergency signal.

"The purpose of going up is to investigate what the situation is," he said.

"Often when a Quick Reaction Alert aircraft is launched the details are not known, but it is known that a signal has been sent.

"Part of the purpose of sending a Typhoon up is to have a look and see what they can see."

A Pakistan International Airlines spokesman Zufiqar Bijarani told CNN: "We have been told there may have been a bomb threat." But he did not say if he had anything to confirm or deny this.

Stansted Airport said on Twitter that it was operating normally.

Pakistan International Airlines said there were 308 passengers on board, as well as 14 crew including pilots, with a mixture of Pakistani and British passport holders.
'Serious incident'

Philip Baum, of Aviation Security International, told the BBC: "This is certainly a significant incident, however the fact that fighter jets were scrambled to intercept is not unusual.

"We don't know what the incident was: fighter jets are scrambled when there is a bomb threat, when there is a hijack, when the wrong transponder code is used or if an aircraft cannot communicate with the ground. Often the result is when there is an unruly passenger on board.

"What is interesting in this case is that it would appear that the aircraft was only 10 minutes from landing - these are initial reports coming in - when they decided to divert to Stansted. So to actually change a destination 10 minutes from landing would certainly imply that there was some serious incident taking place."
 

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