Jet diverted to Stansted after two passengers 'tried to storm' cockpit

Two men who tried to burst into the cockpit of Pakistan International Airlines flight from Lahore to Manchester Airport are in police custody.

Police appear to search one of the passengers by the side of the plane Photo: Stephen Huntley

David Millward, Hayley Dixon and Ben Farmer
7:02PM BST 24 May 2013

Typhoon jets were scrambled from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire to escort the Boeing 777 with 347 passengers on board to Stansted after the pilot raised the alarm.

According to senior defence sources the men, British nationals aged 30 and 41, claimed they had a bomb.

They were arrested on suspicion of endangering an aircraft by armed police who boarded the plane, flight PK 709, which had been diverted to Stansted about 10 minutes before it was due to land at Manchester.

"The cabin crew informed us that basically they tried to come into the cockpit a few times,” said Umari Nauman, a passenger on the flight.


“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 told Sky News.

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.
"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," Mr Shah said.
"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."
Another passenger on the flight, Mr Munsif, added: "We were half an our from Manchester announced he was taking the plane down. We landed safely.
"He said he had some kind of threat from someone on the plane.
"Three to four people boarded and two men were removed from the plane. They were arrested and taken away in handcuffs."
Mashhood Tajwar, the airline’s spokesman, said information had been received by Manchester air traffic control saying there was “some security threat”
"But so far it has not been ascertained what was the real motive behind that call," he added.
Zohaib Zattar, 24, from Huddersfield, was told by his father Abdul, 57, a passenger on the plane how the incident unfolded.
“He said there was no warning or threat, all of a sudden the plane just turned around."
At Stansted the passengers were disembarked safely after the aircraft had been taken to a remote area of the airport.
Superintendent Darrin Tomkins of Essex Police said the aircraft had been subjected to a forensic examination and nothing had been found.
"This incident is being treated as a criminal offence and remains under the direction of Essex Police,” he added.
This was the second time in less than two years that the flight PK 709 has been diverted following a bomb alert. In September 2011 the aircraft was diverted to Ataturk Airport, Istanbul after an emailed threat.
The flight PK 709 (EPA)
A Boeing 777, with the same flight number as in the latest incident, carrying 347 passengers plus crew and bound for Manchester from Lahore was forced to land at Ataturk International airport in Istanbul.
Mashhood Tajwar, a spokesman for PIA, said the incident followed a call to air traffic control.
He said that about 20 to 30 minutes before landing, information received by air traffic control in Manchester had indicated there might have been "some security threat".
"But so far it has not been ascertained what was the real motive behind that call," said Mr Tajwar
　
　
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10079685/Jet-diverted-to-Stansted-after-two-passengers-tried-to-storm-cockpit.html