An Air France passenger jet flying from Mauritius to Paris has made an emergency landing in Kenya after an alleged explosive device was found on board. Kenya’s airports authority is referring to the device as a “bomb,” saying two “suspicious” passengers from the flight are being investigated.
Kenya Airports Authority said that experts have discovered a bomb inside Air France plane.
“The explosive was carried away to a safe place outside the airport. Bomb experts from the Kenya Navy took the bomb away to safety,” the authority said on Facebook.
The security is checking two passengers “who appear suspicious,” it said.
The Boeing 777 Air France flight 463 was carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew on board, police spokesman Charles Owino said.
The plane was flying to Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport when it was forced to land in the Moi International Airport in the Kenyan city of Mombasa.
According to Owino, all the passengers and crew members have been safely evacuated. He added that bomb experts are currently investigating the device that was found in the bathroom.
“The pilots requested an emergency landing when a device suspected to be an explosive was discovered in the lavatory,” Owino said.
Air France said in a statement that the passengers and crew “are [being] taken care of by Mombasa’s airport ground staff and will be accommodated.”
“An investigation is being led by the authorities to identify the source of the threat…This Mombasa-Paris flight is scheduled to leave in the late afternoon of Sunday, December 20,” the statement added.
RT News
JAL-Japan Airlines suspends Narita-Paris flight
Japan Airlines will suspend flights between Tokyo Narita and Paris Charles de Gaulle next month.
The move follows a substantial drop in passenger numbers since last month’s terror attacks in the French capital, reports The Express Tribune.
In the case of Tokyo Narita, a JAL spokesperson said that passenger volumes have declined by 60 per cent. Tokyo Haneda is not so badly affected, with a slightly more modest 40 per cent decline.
JAL will suspend its Tokyo Narita-Paris flights on most days between January 12 and February 29. A decision will be taken later on whether to extend the flight suspension further.
Passengers booked to Narita will be rebooked to Haneda.
It remains to be seen whether or not other regional airlines will follow JAL’s lead.
Earlier this month, it emerged that JAL will increase its Tokyo Narita-Dallas/Fort Worth service to daily in March
Business Traveller
Air France 83 diverts to Montreal because of a threat
An Air France flight bound for Paris was diverted to Montreal last night after an anonymous threat was received, airport officials confirmed.
Flight 083 from San Francisco made an unscheduled stop in Montreal just after 11:20 p.m. ET, said Francois Asselin, a spokesman for Aéroports de Montreal.
Air France confirmed around 4:45 a.m. that the threat was a false alarm.
The plane left for Paris around 6 a.m.
“We were told we had to be diverted for operational reasons by the captain,” passenger Thomas Serval told CBC News. “We were anxious when we landed safely.”
The Boeing 777-300ER was carrying 231 passengers and 15 staff members. The pilot decided to land in Montreal out of precaution, and the plane stayed on the tarmac for some time with passengers on board.
Police and firefighters were called to the scene at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, according to standard procedure.
Gilles Raymond told The Associated Press that he and his fellow passengers spent at least an hour on the plane during verifications after being originally told the diversion was for “technical reasons.”
“Everyone is pretty relaxed,” Raymond said while still inside. “There was no panic, no stress. Everyone is waiting in their seats. Some people are sleeping, and some are checking their phones or eating ice cream that the flight attendants gave them.”
It is not the first time the airline’s flights have been diverted since the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and left hundreds injured.
On Nov. 17, flights bound for France were diverted to Halifax and Salt Lake City, Utah due to anonymous threats later found to be baseless after a sweep of the planes.
CBC News