Two men repeatedly tried get into the cockpit of a passenger plane forcing it to be escorted by an RAF Typhoon jet as it travelled from Pakistan to the UK.
Police have arrested two British nationals on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft today after the plane was diverted to Stansted Airport. Officers are treating the incident as a criminal offence.
Officers boarded Pakistan International Airlines flight PK709, which is believed to have been carrying 297 passengers bound for Manchester, after it landed at Stansted and removed the arrested men, aged 30 and 41, from the plane.
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft after a plane had to be escorted to Standsted Airport by Typhoon jets
Police appear to search one of the suspects by the side of the plane at Stansted
The man also appears to be putting on a forensic suit at the sceneIt is believed one of the passengers threatened to blow up the plane after other passengers tried to intervene in a row he was embroiled in.
Murtaza Ali Shah, a journalist, said he had spoken to a friend on board the plane, Fakhir Iqbal, a political activist, who was sitting behind the man who made the threat.
Mr Shah said his friend told him: ‘Two guys started a row with a girl and lots of other people.
‘Some people tried to calm them and asked them not to be rowdy and abusive.
‘Fakhir told them to calm down.
‘They said ‘don’t bloody speak to us or we will blow up the plane’.
‘The crew came and spoke to them and they were openly threatening the staff.
‘Fakhir went to other crew members and told them they were making threats.’
The Pakistan International Airlines plane that was escorted into Stansted by an RAF Typhoon jet todayAccording to one of the passengers, the aircraft’s cabin crew said two men had repeatedly tried to get into the cockpit.
Umari Nauman told Sky News: ‘The cabin crew informed us that basically they tried to come into the cockpit a few times and because they had been asked not to do that they got into a bit of an argument with the crew and made a few threats.’
She said all the passengers had been ordered to leave their possessions on board before leaving the plane.
Ms Nauman also said helicopters escorted the aircraft before landing.
It is thought that the incident might have been sparked by a scuffle or a disagreement among passengers.
A police spokesman said: ‘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 RAF jet was scrambled following an incident around 10 minutes before the plane, which departed from Lahore, was due to land in Manchester at 2pm.
The PIA plane as it was being escorted by the RAF Typhoon jet
The flight from Lahore to Manchester was diverted to Stansted following the ‘incident’ 10 minutes before it was due to land
This image shows how the plane was moved away from the passenger terminals after it landed at Stansted
The incident is not thought to be terrorism-related at this stage.
A Pakistan International Airlines spokesman said the plane had now landed in the UK but it was not immediately in communication with the pilot.
Mahmouda Aslam, 50, from Prestwich, Manchester, was at the airport awaiting her husband, Mohammed on the flight.
After speaking to her husband on his mobile, she said: ‘I said, “Are you alright? Are you scared?” He said, “We are all OK. The flight is full of police.’
Another worried relative, Zohaib Sattar, 24, from Huddersfield, was waiting for his wife Iqra Anwar, 24, and his father Abdul Sattar, 57.
Mr Sattar said he spoke to his father on the phone after it landed.
‘They have taken two people off the plane and are checking the plane all over,’ he said.
‘The rest are just sat there waiting for further information. My father said there was no warning or threat, all of a sudden the plane just turned around.’
Passengers are led from the plane after it landed at Standsted Airport
Police have confirmed they are treating the incident as a criminal offenceSuperintendent Darrin Tomkins, of Essex Police, said police were this afternoon notified that a threat had been made to the safety of a Boeing 777 flying from Lahore to Manchester
He said the suspects were arrested once the plane had landed at Standsted.
He said: ‘They were then removed from the plane and taken to waiting police vehicles before onward transport to a police station where they will remain in custody pending interview by detectives.
‘The rest of the passengers have been allowed to disembark the plane under police escort. They have been placed on airport coaches and have been taken to the terminal building for debriefing.
‘The plane will remain at its current location and will be subject to forensic examination by specialist officers.
‘At this point in time no suspicious items have been recovered.
‘This incident is being treated as a criminal offence and remains under the direction of Essex Police.’
The MoD has said a total of 25 Quick Reaction Alerts were launched in 2012.
The very same plane on the very same flight – from Lahore to Manchester – had been diverted to Stansted on September 7 2011 due to a bomb scare.
Police make a prominent appearance at Stansted Airport following the incident
There was a large police presence at the airport after the plane, originally bound for Manchester, landed
Officers boarded the plane after it landed at Stansted and removed two menToday’s flight had left Lahore at 9.35am local time and was thought to have been carrying 297 passengers.
An MoD spokesman said the incident was now a police matter and ‘our involvement is over’.
He said Typhoon jets can be scrambled after the pilot or crew of a passenger aircraft sends out an emergency signal.
‘The purpose of going up is to investigate what the situation is,’ he said. ‘Often when a Quick Reaction Alert aircraft is launched the details are not known, but it is known that a signal has been sent.
‘Part of the purpose of sending a Typhoon up is to have a look and see what they can see.’
The incident occurred on the same day a British Airways plane had to made a dramatic emergency landing at Heathrow because of a ‘technical fault’.
Family and friends of passengers of the plane which was diverted to Stansted wait at Manchester Airport to find out what has happened
People waiting at Manchester Airport speak to a PCSO after the PIA flight was diverted to Stansted
Stansted Airport has said at some point police and the airline will arrange for the passengers to be taken to ManchesterThe arrests come at a sensitive time in Pakistani politics following a string of terror attacks in the country after the presidential elections.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility yesterday for a bomb that killed 11 security personnel and two civilians in the southwestern city of Quetta.
It was the second major attack since the May 11 general election which marked the first transition between civilian governments in Pakistan’s turbulent history after a campaign marred by violence.
Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif has called for talks with the Pakistani Taliban in a bid to end rising militancy.
Read more: Daily Mail
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