MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. A passenger plane flying from Ireland to Italy that requested to land in France due to the potential presence of explosives on board landed at the French military base in Evreux-Fauville, a source in air traffic control services told TASS.
Emergency landings were also requested at airports in Bulgaria, Austria, Italy, and Belgium.
TASS has compiled the key details of the situation.
Bulgaria
- Two planes flying from Copenhagen and Madrid landed in Sofia after receiving an email warning about an explosive device.
- Another plane flying from London landed at Plovdiv Airport.
- The 184 passengers on board were to be transported to Sofia by bus.
- The Nova TV channel reported, citing the Transport Ministry, that all three planes belong to Ryanair.
- The Bulgarian security services have begun inspecting the planes, passengers, and luggage.
Austria
- A Wizz Air flight that departed from Milan Malpensa Airport and was headed to Warsaw was forced to land in Vienna due to a bomb threat.
- According to the Il Messaggero newspaper, the airline received the alert while the plane was already in the air and decided to make an emergency landing.
- Another report of a similar threat was received with regards to a Finnair flight that departed from Helsinki and landed at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport.
- It was escorted by an Italian Air Force fighter jet, the newspaper reported.
- A Finnair aircraft in Europe received a bomb threat and landed safely at Vienna International Airport, Reuters reported, citing an airline’s spokesperson.
- According to the report, the flight was operated by the Danish charter company Jettime on behalf of Finnair.
- The plane, which had departed from Helsinki, landed without incident.
Belgium
- A LOT Airlines flight from Warsaw successfully made an emergency landing in Brussels after receiving a suspicious report, the Soir newspaper noted.
- A report was received regarding a strange alert concerning this flight, Brussels International Airport Spokeswoman Ihsane Chioua Lekhli stated.
- She did not specify the content of the report but added that no additional security measures were taken on the ground.
France
- A passenger plane flying from Ireland to Italy that had requested to land in France due to the potential presence of explosives on board landed at the French military base in Evreux-Fauville, a source in air traffic control told TASS.
- According to his information, the aircraft entered service about 22 years ago and is currently operated by the Irish national airline Aer Lingus.
- The aircraft in question is an Airbus A320 passenger plane that was flying from Dublin to Rome. While in French airspace, the crew issued an onboard emergency alert and began descending.
- Later, the RTL radio reported that the flight had been diverted to an air base following a bomb threat.
- It was noted that the French government was monitoring the situation.
Italy
- Italy’s Il Messaggero newspaper reported that a bomb threat had been received regarding a Finnair flight that had departed from Helsinki.
- The plane landed at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport.
- It was escorted by an Italian Air Force fighter jet.