Athens-New York Flight Intercepted
The Royal Air Force scrambled to intercept an Olympic Airlines flight from Athens to New York a couple of hours ago: Plane diverted after�security alert.
LONDON, England (CNN) — An Olympic Airlines flight from Athens to New York was diverted Sunday to London “on a full emergency,” a spokeswoman for London’s Stansted Airport said.
Nia Cairnie said flight 411 landed for “security reasons” just after 3:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. ET). She said all 331 passengers had been evacuated safely. She said she had no information about what had caused the alert.
The British Ministry of Defense said British RAF aircraft scrambled to escort the plane on its landing. Spokesman Miguel Head told CNN: “A number of our aircraft were scrambled in response to a request by the civil authorities. The Royal Airforce responded and escorted the plane until the incident was over. The Royal Airforce planes are now back at base.”
The Australian reports that it was a bomb scare.
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.