Armed police later arrested a passenger on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat.
In a statement posted on their Facebook page, Qatar Airways said: "The crew had received a threat about a possible device on board and #QatarAirways immediately took all the necessary precautions to alert British authorities."
There were 269 passengers and 13 crew members on board flight QR23 from Doha to Manchester.
Manchester Airport was closed for 25 minutes before re-opening, an airport spokesman said.
Britain's Ministry of Defence said "the incident was now being handled by civilian authorities."
"We can confirm that Typhoon aircraft were launched from RAF Coningsby in their quick reaction alert role this afternoon to investigate a civilian aircraft whose pilot had requested assistance," Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
"The aircraft was escorted to Manchester where it landed safely." the statement added.
Greater Manchester Police said on their official Twitter feed that they had detained one man in connection with the incident.
"A man who was on board the plane ... has been arrested on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat," they said.
Britain has a standard response to such incidents which always involves scrambling fighter jets and emergency services.
In May 2013, fighter jets escorted a Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane to Stansted Airport near London where police went on board and arrested two men on suspicion of endangering an aircraft.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/08/uk-jets-escort-plane-over-possible-device-20148513269726168.html
5/8/14
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British police on Tuesday arrested a man suspected of making a hoax bomb threat that forced a Qatar Airways plane to make an emergency landing under military jet escort...
ReplyDeleteFootage of the incident appeared to show an Royal Air Force Typhoon jet escorting the Airbus A330 to Manchester Airport in northwest England.
"A man who was onboard the plane... has been arrested on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat," Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said on its official Twitter page. Passengers reported that the suspect had been hauled off the plane by armed police, less than an hour after it had landed.
Chief Superintendent John O'Hare earlier said that the jet escort had been scrambled because of the pilot of the passenger plane sent an alert about a possible device on board.
A witness told Sky News television that the airport was "on lock-down" and that no planes were landing or taking off, but GMP later tweeted that it was "business as usual" and that the matter was being dealt with as an isolated incident.
The incident caused the diversion of the plane carrying the Manchester United football team back from its pre-season tour of the United States, local paper the Manchester Evening News reported.
- AFP/ec
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/british-air-force-jet/1298200.html
5/8/14