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London flight diverted to Warsaw over reported bomb threat

Summarised from 7 outlets · Updated 3 Nov, 16:20 · Archive

A flight from London with 181 passengers made an emergency landing at Warsaw-Modlin Airport after a reported bomb threat.

A LOT Polish Airlines flight from London Heathrow carrying 181 passengers made an emergency landing at Warsaw-Modlin Airport on Tuesday morning after a reported bomb threat. The aircraft, flight LO286, was originally scheduled to land at Warsaw Chopin Airport but was diverted to Modlin, approximately 40 kilometres north of the Polish capital, following the alert.

The alarm was raised at 9.54am, and the plane landed at 10.01am, according to media reports. Warsaw-Modlin Airport spokesman Adam Szabłowski confirmed the landing and stated that the airport had been closed while authorities waited for bomb disposal experts to attend the scene. Polish Airlines said they were "notified by airport authorities" of the potential security threat on board the Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane. "The aircraft was diverted to Warsaw Modlin Airport, where it landed and subsequently taxied to a designated parking stand," the airline said in a statement. "Relevant authorities are assessing the situation in accordance with established security procedures."

Security services carried out inspections of passengers' luggage and the aircraft itself as part of standard security protocols. The airport remained closed until further notice while the investigation continued. No explosives were reported to have been found during the initial inspections.

This incident was one of several suspected bomb threats affecting passenger planes across Europe on Tuesday. The BBC reports that seven passenger planes in total have been inspected following suspected bomb threats. Two Ryanair flights, one from Dublin and one from Lisbon, were searched after landing in Rome, with the Dublin flight escorted by the Italian air force. Authorities also searched planes in Poland, Spain and Bulgaria. Searches in Rome yielded negative results, and those alerts have been cleared.

Aviation security expert Paul Mason told the BBC that such threats "don't happen that frequently", making the latest incidents "unusual". He suggested that the breadth of the threats across airlines "would suggest to me that it's been a very deliberate act by a typical actor rather than a load of coincidental, malicious calls". Paul Mason explained that there are extensive validation processes that onboard crews and ground operators must follow to assess the credibility of threats, and that aircraft may be diverted if the threat level reaches a certain threshold.

It remains unclear whether all the incidents are connected. The Mirror reports that a second incident involved a SAS flight from Copenhagen, which received a similar threat and landed at Chopin Airport in Warsaw, which remained operational with changes to the flight schedule.

London flight diverted to Warsaw over reported bomb threat
Image: BBC News

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In this story: London · Warsaw-Modlin Airport · Warsaw · LOT Polish Airlines · Chopin Airport · Poland · Adam Szabłowski · Heathrow

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log