A man has been arrested after an Etihad Airways flight travelling from Abu Dhabi to London’s Heathrow Airport was redirected when a passenger began making threats.
Two Royal Air Force Typhoon jets were scrambled to accompany flight EY19 as it landed at Stansted Airport, north of London, about noon (UK time) on Monday.
A 37-year-old British national was arrested at Stansted, Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman Steve Field said, citing Essex Police.
“The pilot reported a passenger causing disruption and making threats,” Field said. “No one has been injured and the airport has been operating normally.”
The passenger was “disruptive and made inappropriate comments”, Lisa Taylor, a spokeswoman for Etihad Airways, said by telephone. “There was no threat to the safety of the passengers.”
Imagine looking out of the window and seeing two of these bad boys on your wing
Reuters photographer Paul Childs, who was on the flight, said the man, sitting two rows behind him at the back of the plane, had not put up a struggle when police arrived.
“The plane’s captain came on the tannoy and said a direct verbal threat to the airline had been made,” Childs said.
“A member of the cabin crew said he had made a bomb threat. The man had come to one of the empty seats at the back of the plane during the flight. The first I knew something was happening was when the police came on board.”
Childs described him as being white and having a British passport. Another man had been taken off from the front of the plane, Childs was told.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Typhoon aircraft were launched to escort a passenger aircraft due to an incident on board.
Kate Preston
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