Qatar Airways Passenger Plane Escorted By Royal Air Force To Manchester Over A 'Possible Device' On Board

Fox News reports that a man has been arrested on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat after a passenger plane landed Tuesday with a military fighter escort at Britain's Manchester Airport. The Airbus A330-300 had 269 passengers and 13 crew on board of the Qatar Airways Flight 23 from Doha, Qatar,
which landed safely at the airport. A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said the aircraft was accompanied by a fighter jet as it landed "as a result of information received by the pilot about a possible device". The threat was allegedly made in a letter handed to a member of the crew and passed on to the pilot, who alerted air traffic control before the RAF jet was scrambled.

Qatar Airways said its crew received a threat about a possible device on board. “An incoming plane has been escorted into the airport by the Royal Air Force as a result of information received by the pilot about a possible device on board,” Police Chief Superintendent John O'Hare said.

Officers are responding to the scene. Take-offs and landings at the airport were temporarily suspended. “The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew is our top priority,” the airline said in a statement. “As this is a matter of a police investigation, we cannot comment further at this time.”