Fighter jets escorted a Ryanair flight to safety after the pilot called in a bomb threat mid-air, it has been reported.
The Boeing 737 was carrying 190 passengers from Katowice in Poland to Athens when Greek F-16 fighters scrambled to bring the aircraft to safety on Sunday.
The plane was diverted as a precaution before landing at the airport in Greece at 5.40pm.
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Greek police spokeswoman Constantia Dimoglidou said they are still working out where the threat originated from, but the pilot raised the alarm.
The aircraft had been escorted by Hungarian Air Force jets before entering North Macedonian airspace where the Greeks took over, it was reported. All of the passengers, their luggage and the aircraft were checked after landing and have since been given the all-clear.
A Ryanair spokesperson told the Mirror: “Crew onboard Buzz flight FR6385 travelling from Katowice to Athens (22 Jan) were notified of a potential security threat onboard and in line with safety procedures, continued to Athens where it landed safely before being met by the Greek authorities.
“Passengers disembarked normally and local authorities carried out a standard security search before clearing the aircraft to return to service.”
Last July, a Ryanair pilot revealed that there is a special place where bombs are stashed if one is found onboard a plane.
They said: “People will have to guess where it is and hope they’re sat away from it.
“Its proper name is the least risk bomb location and it’s part of the aircraft that if a bomb exploded would hopefully cause least damage to the airframe.”
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