The Latest: Flights diverted in Europe over bomb threats
MILAN (AP) — Flights from across Europe were diverted or forced to make emergency landings on Thursday because of bomb threats, authorities said. So far, inspections have not turned up hazardous or suspicious materials.
The incidents followed hoax bomb threats earlier this week that prompted searches, diversions and, in one case, a military escort.
More than a dozen flights were targeted, including those from Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan and Warsaw.
Such threats aren’t a new phenomenon but come at a time of increased geopolitical tensions and signs of “disruption,” like attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems, drone incursions in Europe and mysterious triggers to alert apps.
The latest on Thursday's developments:
The flight departed Helsinki bound for Rome after an email threat was received, the air force said in a statement.
A Croatian fighter jet first intercepted it in Croatian airspace before handing it off to the Italians, the Croatian defense ministry said.
Finnair said that two of its flights, including the one that received the military escort and landed safely in Rome, “faced unfounded hoax bomb scares.” The other flight, operated by Jettime from Helsinki to Vienna, landed safely at its destination, and was expected to return to service after an inspection, Finnair said.
Bogota’s City Hall said in a statement that the threat to the Italian airport was emailed by an account tied to a public health network in Colombia’s capital.
The statement said there have been several possible cyberattacks against public entities in recent days and their email accounts may have been used by international hackers.
No bomb was found on the Aer Lingus Dublin-Rome flight that was diverted to a military air base in France, the regional prosecutor said.
After French authorities were informed of the bomb threat and ordered the plane to land in Normandy, the Irish pilot apparently refused, Remi Coutin said in a statement. As a result, the French government sent two warplanes to escort the Airbus passenger jet to Evreux.
The pilot and the English co-pilot are being questioned as part of an investigation into what happened, the prosecutor said.
An email containing the threat to Rome-bound planes was sent on behalf of a group that describes itself as anti-feminist, according to a copy provided by an airport official and reviewed by the AP.
An official from another European airport said the threat they received also came from a group calling itself anti-feminist, and used some of the same language. It was not clear if they were the same group.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to share the information.
Greece’s Aegean Airlines confirmed Thursday that two of its flights received bomb threats that proved to be hoaxes.
It said in a statement that Flight A3552 from Thessaloniki to Milan and Flight A3860 from Athens to Vienna were bomb threat targets.
The airline said all security protocols were implemented and that the flights departed from both Milan and Vienna after it was confirmed that the threats were “baseless.”
“The security of our passengers and crew is and will continue to be our highest priority,” the statement said.
Britain’s transport secretary says flights across Europe have been hit by “malicious hoax threats.”
Heidi Alexander told broadcasters that “a small number of flights across Europe have been disrupted.” She said there are “established processes for dealing with hoax and malicious threats, and that’s what these threats have been.”
She did not provide information on what the established processes are.
An Aer Lingus plane rerouted to western France while en route from Dublin to Rome is standing on the tarmac at a military air base in Evreux, under an overcast sky.
A Red Cross vehicle is nearby, but no activity is visible at the base of the plane. Metal gates ring the base and outsiders are not allowed in.
It is unclear where the passengers and crew are being held while explosives experts examine the plane.
Finnair said that two of its flights, AY1761 from Helsinki to Rome and AY1471 from Helsinki to Vienna, faced unfounded or hoax bomb threats Thursday.
“Both flights landed safely at their destinations, and customers have disembarked the aircraft,” it said.
Nothing suspicious were found on the planes, it added. The plane to Rome was inspected and will depart back to Helsinki, while the flight to Vienna will “return to traffic normally after inspection.”
In the Czech Republic, police were sent to Prague’s Vaclav Havel Airport to prepare for the landing of four planes after receiving threats of explosive devices on board. Police said that “all necessary security measures have been activated.”
Police later said searches of the planes that landed in Prague found nothing suspicious. They did not give details on where the flights originated from.
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