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Bomb threats hit several European flights, but no explosives are found

Ryanair, LOT, Scandinavian Airlines and Wizz Air planes were searched after landing, and officials say no one was injured.

14 news outlets reported this
Liberal5 outletsa flight-by-flight account of the threats and clearancesCenter7 outletspossible coordination behind a string of hoax threatsConservative2 outletsa rash of bomb threats and coordination speculation
Published 3 min read
Overview

Several flights across Europe received bomb threats on Tuesday. Searches found no explosives, and officials said no one was injured. Two Ryanair flights, from Lisbon and Dublin, landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport after emailed threats, and Italy's air force escorted the Dublin plane.

In Poland, a LOT flight from London Heathrow was diverted to Modlin airport, which closed temporarily, and a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen landed at Warsaw's Chopin airport. A Ryanair flight from Manchester landed at Murcia in Spain with 121 people on board, including crew. In Bulgaria, Transport Minister Georgi Peev said two planes from Bergamo and Dublin were inspected in Sofia, found clear and not diverted.

The threats came a day after a Wizz Air flight from London Luton was diverted to Budapest after a bomb threat, escorted by a Hungarian fighter jet. The UK government called Tuesday's incidents "malicious hoax threats." The BBC reports that no official link has been drawn between the incidents, and that authorities from several countries will work together to judge whether they were coordinated.

Key figures
  • 121 people on board the Ryanair flight from Manchester to Murcia, including crew — The Boston Globe
  • Seven passenger planes inspected after suspected bomb threats, by the BBC's count — BBC News
  • at least seven planes threatened, according to the New York Times — The New York Times
  • Eight flights with apparently fake threats in a little over 24 hours, per Breitbart — Breitbart News
  • around two hours Modlin airport closure, per Business Insider — Business Insider

Three sides of the story

Liberal5 outlets

a flight-by-flight account of the threats and clearances

Business Insider counts "6 separate flights" in 24 hours and walks through each one with times, flight numbers and airline statements, including a Wizz spokesperson saying Flight 4352 "was subject to a bomb threat." The Guardian opens with four planes that "landed safely" and quotes spokesperson Adam Szablowski on the Modlin evacuation: "Nothing was found." The Boston Globe carries the AP wire report headed "Flights across Europe face disruption after false bomb threats," which calls them hoaxes and quotes an SAS spokeswoman saying it "was not an emergency landing."

It also gives Bulgaria's transport minister Georgi Peev on the Sofia inspections. The New York Times headline says threats "disrupt several flights," with officials investigating at least seven planes that landed safely with no explosives found. The Guardian also notes the Wizz Air landing in Budapest the day before, escorted by a Hungarian fighter jet.

Center7 outlets

possible coordination behind a string of hoax threats

BBC News leads with seven flights across Europe "targeted by suspected bomb threats." It says there is officially no link between them, while authorities in several countries will cooperate on whether the calls were a coordinated attempt to disrupt airspace. It quotes the UK government calling the incidents "malicious hoax threats."

Aviation security expert Paul Mason tells BBC Radio 5 Live it "sounds like they've been made in a credible manner," which "would suggest to me" a "very deliberate act by a typical actor." The BBC also carries a passenger named Sarah on the Murcia landing and Bulgarian border police on an emailed threat. Deutsche Welle opens with Polish inspections of two planes and quotes airport spokesman Adam Szablowski: "Nothing was found."

It adds that it was not yet known if the threats were connected, and that similar alerts at other European airports in the weeks before had also turned out to be false. Newsweek leads with the London plane's unscheduled landing in Warsaw and quotes Spanish official Francisco Lucas on the 114 passengers and 7 crew in Murcia. Courthouse News runs the AP wire report, which calls the threats hoaxes and notes the Italian Air Force escort of one flight.

Conservative2 outlets

a rash of bomb threats and coordination speculation

Breitbart News headlines its report "Flights Across Europe Grounded Over Rash of Bomb Threats." It counts eight flights with "apparently fake" threats in a little over 24 hours and says the unusual number has fed speculation that someone is coordinating an attempt to disrupt air traffic. Each plane, it says, was landed, then emptied and searched by police and bomb disposal specialists, and airports and national governments report that no explosives were found.

It lists the flights by city: two to Warsaw, two to Sofia, two to Rome and one from Manchester sent to Murcia. It adds that a Wizzair flight from London to Sofia on Monday, diverted to Budapest, may fit the pattern. Email was the route of the threats in at least some cases, it says, and nobody has publicly named a possible culprit.

All sources: 15 articles from 14 outlets

Liberal (5)

Center (8)

Conservative (2)

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