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| Air France Flight Makes Emergency Landing in Kenya After ‘False Alarm’ | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| NAIROBI, Kenya — An Air France jetliner flying over the Indian Ocean made an emergency landing in Kenya on Sunday after a suspicious device found in a bathroom turned out to be constructed of cardboard and made to look like a bomb. | |
| Air France Flight 463 was headed from the island of Mauritius to Paris when a passenger noticed the suspicious device. Bomb fears aboard flights have intensified in recent weeks after the crash of a Russian jetliner in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in October, which Western investigators said was caused by an explosive device. | Air France Flight 463 was headed from the island of Mauritius to Paris when a passenger noticed the suspicious device. Bomb fears aboard flights have intensified in recent weeks after the crash of a Russian jetliner in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in October, which Western investigators said was caused by an explosive device. |
| The passenger notified the crew, who alerted the captain, Kenyan officials said, and the plane then diverted from its flight path and made an emergency landing in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa shortly after midnight Sunday. | The passenger notified the crew, who alerted the captain, Kenyan officials said, and the plane then diverted from its flight path and made an emergency landing in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa shortly after midnight Sunday. |
| The plane was a Boeing 777 with 459 passengers and 14 crew members, Kenyan officials said. Everyone was safely evacuated. | The plane was a Boeing 777 with 459 passengers and 14 crew members, Kenyan officials said. Everyone was safely evacuated. |
| Joseph Boinnet, the head of Kenya’s police, said in a Twitter post that investigators had retrieved a device and were “determining whether the components contained explosives.” | Joseph Boinnet, the head of Kenya’s police, said in a Twitter post that investigators had retrieved a device and were “determining whether the components contained explosives.” |
| The chief executive of Air France, Frédéric Gagey, said at a news conference in Paris on Sunday that the scare was a “false alarm” and that the device had been made of cardboard, sheets of paper and a timer. | The chief executive of Air France, Frédéric Gagey, said at a news conference in Paris on Sunday that the scare was a “false alarm” and that the device had been made of cardboard, sheets of paper and a timer. |
| Kenyan news media reported Sunday night that six passengers were being questioned in connection with the bomb hoax and that all six would be further investigated by French antiterrorism police. | Kenyan news media reported Sunday night that six passengers were being questioned in connection with the bomb hoax and that all six would be further investigated by French antiterrorism police. |
| The emergency landing in Mombasa disrupted flights at that airport for several hours, but by Sunday afternoon, Kenyan officials said service had returned to normal. “Jambo!” the Kenyan civil aviation authority said in a message on Sunday, using the Swahili word for hello. “We confirm of an emergency landing by Air France at Moi Int’l Airport this morning.” Moi International is the name of the international airport in Mombasa, the second biggest airport in Kenya. | The emergency landing in Mombasa disrupted flights at that airport for several hours, but by Sunday afternoon, Kenyan officials said service had returned to normal. “Jambo!” the Kenyan civil aviation authority said in a message on Sunday, using the Swahili word for hello. “We confirm of an emergency landing by Air France at Moi Int’l Airport this morning.” Moi International is the name of the international airport in Mombasa, the second biggest airport in Kenya. |
| The scare was the latest incident to affect Air France and other airlines in recent weeks amid heightened concerns of potential terrorist threats to air travel in the wake of the Oct. 31 crash of the Russian airliner. Russian authorities have asserted the crash was caused by an explosive device, and militants linked to the Islamic State have claimed responsibility for bringing down the plane. Egyptian investigators, however, say they have so far uncovered no evidence proving the plane was brought down by a bomb. | The scare was the latest incident to affect Air France and other airlines in recent weeks amid heightened concerns of potential terrorist threats to air travel in the wake of the Oct. 31 crash of the Russian airliner. Russian authorities have asserted the crash was caused by an explosive device, and militants linked to the Islamic State have claimed responsibility for bringing down the plane. Egyptian investigators, however, say they have so far uncovered no evidence proving the plane was brought down by a bomb. |
| In those previous cases, several of which involved flights from the United States to Paris, the flights were diverted following anonymous bomb threats. But searches of the aircraft did not reveal anything suspicious. Last week, a flight from Madrid to São Paulo, Brazil, operated by the Brazilian airline TAM, returned to the Spanish capital after Spanish authorities informed the airline of a possible bomb threat. | In those previous cases, several of which involved flights from the United States to Paris, the flights were diverted following anonymous bomb threats. But searches of the aircraft did not reveal anything suspicious. Last week, a flight from Madrid to São Paulo, Brazil, operated by the Brazilian airline TAM, returned to the Spanish capital after Spanish authorities informed the airline of a possible bomb threat. |