UK Police charge 2 British Pakistanis with endangering PIA aircraft

Tayyab Subhani and Mohammed Safdar both of Nelson, Lancashire to appear in court.

ISLAMABAD: Two British men were charged with endangering an aircraft after a Pakistan International Airlines plane was diverted, intercepted by fighter jets and escorted to a London airport, the BBC reported on Sunday.

Tayyab Subhani, 30, and Mohammed Safdar, 41, both of Nelson, Lancashire, were detained at Stansted on Friday.

The defendants are due at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on May 27 (Monday).

The PIA aircraft, which was carrying 300 passengers from Lahore to Manchester, was diverted to Stansted airport outside London.

The incident was not believed to be terror-related. An airline source had told AFP the incident had stemmed from a family row on board.

“There was a family of eight to 10 people on the plane and they were quarrelling among each other,” the PIA source had said.

“When PIA staff approached them and asked them to calm down, they told them to go away otherwise they would blow up the plane.”

“PIA staff became scared and they raised the alarm to avoid any untoward situation.”