Bomb Scares Disrupt Europe Flights, Forcing Emergency Landings, Diversions
by Michael Pihach
(Ryanair)
A series of bomb threats targeting passenger aircraft across Europe on Tuesday (Nov. 3) triggered security alerts, emergency landings and flight diversions, with at least seven aircraft reportedly searched.
Among the affected flights were two Ryanair services bound for Italy from Lisbon and Dublin, both of which were forced to make emergency landings following anonymous warnings about potential explosives on board.
Sources at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport confirmed the incidents to the BBC.
A third Ryanair flight, travelling from Manchester to Murcia, Spain, was also targeted by a bomb threat. However, local media reported that the warning was ultimately determined to be a hoax.
A fourth flight from London Heathrow to Poland operated by Polish airline LOT also had to divert to an alternate Warsaw airport due to a threat, while a fifth plane, operated by SAS Scandinavian Airlines, from Copenhagen received a scare but landed as planned.
The incidents caused disruptions to flight operations, with aircraft grounded or diverted as security personnel carried out precautionary searches, the Independent reported.
It remains unclear whether the threats were connected or who was responsible for issuing them.
The incidents follow a similar scare on Monday (Nov. 2), when fighter jets were scrambled after a bomb threat forced a Wizz Air flight travelling from London Luton to Sofia to divert to Budapest for an emergency landing.
