Overplayed threat: Mid-air scuffle triggers alarm on PIA flight
UK fighter jets escort flight PK709 after reports of onboard altercation.
Essex Police officers leave the PIA Boeing 777 aircraft on the tarmac at Stansted Airport. PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON/KARACHI:
Britain scrambled Typhoon fighter jets to escort a Pakistan International Airlines plane following reports of an onboard scuffle on Friday.
The British fighters escorted PIA flight PK709 to Stansted Airport near London, where police went on board and arrested two men on suspicion of endangering the aircraft. Flight PK709 from Lahore had been due to land at Manchester in northern England with 297 passengers on board, but was diverted shortly before arrival.
Britain is on high alert after a soldier was hacked to death on a London street on Wednesday in what the government is treating as a terrorist incident.
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. Passengers were leaving the plane and no one was hurt in the incident, the spokesperson added.
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 Mr 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 two men arrested on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft are aged 30 and 41. They are being taken to a police station for interviewing by detectives,” they added.
Police said they are treating the incident as criminal in nature rather that terror-related.
“It’s a criminal investigation under the direction of Essex police,” Superintendent Darrin Tomkins told reporters at Stansted. Asked if it could be terror related, he added: “This incident is being treated as a criminal offence.”
“The plane will remain at its current location and will subject to forensic examination by specialist officers. At this point in time no suspicious items have been recovered,” Tomkins maintained.
According to TV channels, the plane was later cleared by the police and would depart for Manchester shortly
Details emerge
According to PIA officials, flight PK709 was diverted from Manchester to Stansted Airport after two passengers threatened the crew.
“British fighter jets were scrambled after the pilot informed the control tower that a passenger was trying to get inside the cockpit,” they added.
A PIA statement issued late Friday evening read: “The flight in UK airspace was diverted to Stansted airport after a PIA crew member, upon receiving a threat from two passengers, informed the flight captain.”
“The captain of the aircraft immediately contacted UK air traffic control and received directions to land at Stansted Airport,” it added. The statement further said the two passengers have been taken into custody and investigations were underway. Their identities have not been disclosed.
A PIA spokesperson Mashood Tajwar said that it was too soon to say anything about nature of the threat. “At the moment we know that UK police is interrogating the passengers. Both the passengers are UK nationals.” He did not say whether anyone tried to enter the cockpit.
There were conflicting reports of what actually happened aboard the aircraft. Some said that a brawl between a few passengers and the crew turned into threats to take down the plane.
“I have been told that someone was trying to get inside the cockpit,” said another PIA official. “Someone said something about blowing up the plane and then there was confusion.”
Captain Nadeem Sufi, who was in command of the flight, had no option but to inform the airport authorities, he added.
According to PIA officials, arrangements were being made to transport the passengers stranded at Stansted airport to Manchester.
Aviation industry officials say that heightened security alert in the UK added to the confusion. “This seems like a small incident blown out of proportion. It is PIA’s bad luck that it has to be under the spot light in such circumstances,” said an industry veteran. “But the pilot did the right thing. Pakistan cannot afford to take chances.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2013.
Britain scrambled Typhoon fighter jets to escort a Pakistan International Airlines plane following reports of an onboard scuffle on Friday.
The British fighters escorted PIA flight PK709 to Stansted Airport near London, where police went on board and arrested two men on suspicion of endangering the aircraft. Flight PK709 from Lahore had been due to land at Manchester in northern England with 297 passengers on board, but was diverted shortly before arrival.
Britain is on high alert after a soldier was hacked to death on a London street on Wednesday in what the government is treating as a terrorist incident.
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. Passengers were leaving the plane and no one was hurt in the incident, the spokesperson added.
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 Mr 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 two men arrested on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft are aged 30 and 41. They are being taken to a police station for interviewing by detectives,” they added.
Police said they are treating the incident as criminal in nature rather that terror-related.
“It’s a criminal investigation under the direction of Essex police,” Superintendent Darrin Tomkins told reporters at Stansted. Asked if it could be terror related, he added: “This incident is being treated as a criminal offence.”
“The plane will remain at its current location and will subject to forensic examination by specialist officers. At this point in time no suspicious items have been recovered,” Tomkins maintained.
According to TV channels, the plane was later cleared by the police and would depart for Manchester shortly
Details emerge
According to PIA officials, flight PK709 was diverted from Manchester to Stansted Airport after two passengers threatened the crew.
“British fighter jets were scrambled after the pilot informed the control tower that a passenger was trying to get inside the cockpit,” they added.
A PIA statement issued late Friday evening read: “The flight in UK airspace was diverted to Stansted airport after a PIA crew member, upon receiving a threat from two passengers, informed the flight captain.”
“The captain of the aircraft immediately contacted UK air traffic control and received directions to land at Stansted Airport,” it added. The statement further said the two passengers have been taken into custody and investigations were underway. Their identities have not been disclosed.
A PIA spokesperson Mashood Tajwar said that it was too soon to say anything about nature of the threat. “At the moment we know that UK police is interrogating the passengers. Both the passengers are UK nationals.” He did not say whether anyone tried to enter the cockpit.
There were conflicting reports of what actually happened aboard the aircraft. Some said that a brawl between a few passengers and the crew turned into threats to take down the plane.
“I have been told that someone was trying to get inside the cockpit,” said another PIA official. “Someone said something about blowing up the plane and then there was confusion.”
Captain Nadeem Sufi, who was in command of the flight, had no option but to inform the airport authorities, he added.
According to PIA officials, arrangements were being made to transport the passengers stranded at Stansted airport to Manchester.
Aviation industry officials say that heightened security alert in the UK added to the confusion. “This seems like a small incident blown out of proportion. It is PIA’s bad luck that it has to be under the spot light in such circumstances,” said an industry veteran. “But the pilot did the right thing. Pakistan cannot afford to take chances.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2013.