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Military Jets Escort Plane To London Airport In Bomb Scare
British military jets were scrambled to escort an Olympic Airlines aircraft en route from Athens to New York to Stansted airport near London after a bomb alert, defence ministry and airline officials said. All 301 passengers were safely evacuated. "A number of RAF planes were sent to the civil aircraft in the last hour and a half to escort it to Stansted Airport at the request of civilian authorities," a defence ministry spokesman said. Olympic Airlines in Athens said the Airbus plane had been diverted and assistance requested after an anonymous caller warned there was a bomb on board. According to a spokeswoman at Stansted airport, flight 411 from Athens to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport was diverted into Stansted "on a full emergency". "This afternoon it landed safely just after 3.30 pm (1430 GMT). There were 301 passengers on board, all of whom have been evacuated safely." The British Department for Transport said the aircraft was being searched as part of "a standard response". Posted by: Fred 2004-09-26 |
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