On the way to Menorca, Easyjet passengers experience a mission by the Spanish Air Force up close: because of a bomb alert, fighter jets force the plane to land. The threat turns out to be a false alarm, but the suspected sender is arrested.
On the way to a beach holiday in the Balearic Islands, flight passengers have been intercepted by fighter jets: A holiday plane operated by Easyjet was forced to land by Spanish fighter jets on Sunday. According to media reports, the maneuver was triggered by a bomb threat that an 18-year-old Briton is said to have spread on social media. The Airbus A319 was therefore on its way from London-Gatwick to the Spanish island of Menorca.
While the plane was still in the air, the information reached the control tower of Mahon (Menorca) airport that there was a bomb threat against flight EZY 8303. In accordance with the emergency protocol, the Airbus was then intercepted by Spanish military jets and escorted to Mahon Airport. Footage of the incident, filmed by passengers, shows an F-18 jet flying close to the A-319’s distinctive orange wingtips.
The suspect was probably on board himself
Arrived on the Balearic Island, police, bomb experts and sniffer dogs examined the plane and all the luggage – passengers were questioned by the Spanish police. But the security forces could not find any danger: the threat turned out to be a false alarm.
According to the “Bild” newspaper, the young person who had sent the threat was on board the machine himself. He spent the night in custody and is now awaiting a court hearing, a spokesman for the Guardia Civil told the newspaper. He will now probably have to bear the costs of the operation. A fighter jet mission in particular could be expensive, the report said.
The incident and the investigations that have been launched have reportedly caused the return flight to be delayed for hours and other airlines have been delayed. However, the airport was able to resume normal operations on Sunday evening.
