Criminals not terrorists: PIA UK flight forced to land amid fighter escort

Altercation between two passengers alarmed the crew who called for help. Both passengers have been arrested.

LONDON: British fighter jets escorted a Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane to Stansted Airport near London on Friday, where police went on board and arrested two men on suspicion of endangering the aircraft, though authorities said it was not a terror related incident.

Passengers were offloaded and no one was hurt in the incident, a spokesperson for the airport said.

Flight PK709 from Lahore in Pakistan had been due to land at Manchester in northern England with 297 passengers on board, but was diverted shortly before arrival.

A security source said early indications were that the plane was not the target of a terrorist attack.

A passenger who had just got off the plane told the BBC the pilot had informed passengers after landing that he had diverted to Stansted because of threats. The passenger, named by the BBC as Munsif, said two men had been handcuffed on board and removed.

"We landed safely and then he announced that they had some kind of threat from someone and that's why he landed the plane," the passenger said, speaking by telephone.

"Essex Police have boarded a passenger plane diverted to Stansted Airport and two men have been arrested on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft. They have been removed from the plane," the police said in a statement. The force is responsible for the area where Stansted is located.

"The two men arrested on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft are aged 30 and 41. They are being taken to a police station for interview by detectives," the police added.

Stansted is one of London's less busy airports, preferred as a location for handling airplane security incidents. A spokesperson for the airport said the plane was being held in an isolated area and that the rest of the airport was operating as normal.

Passenger Shahid Yaqoob told Express News that trouble brewed when in mid-flight there was an altercation between two of the passengers. He added that as the argument between the passengers grew, on board staff had to intervene and some hot words were exchanged. "the exchange of words were not of a nature related to terrorism."

Yaqoob added that they did not know the nature of the argument or what had happened as a result of the altercation, but when they landed in London and commandos boarded the plane, they knew it was something serious. "Four commandos with their leader  boarded the aircraft and pin pointed the two middle aged passengers who previously had the altercation and removed them from the aircraft."

The passenger added that the two middle-aged men were handcuffed before being led off the plane. Shortly after all other passengers were asked to disembark. "We were not even allowed to take our hand luggage off the aircraft and authorities said that everything will be checked. "

The Essex county police though said that both of the people arrested were British citizens, ITV reported.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said 10 fire engines had been sent to the airport.

The Pakistani plane was a Boeing 777, according to the flight tracking website www.flightradar.com.

According to two tracking websites, the aircraft broke off from its descent about 60 miles east of Manchester.

It turned and followed a wide arc over northeast England and out to the North Sea before heading towards London.

Britain launches military planes to intercept unidentified aircraft when they cannot be identified by other means, for example when the aircraft is not talking to air traffic controllers.