RAF scrambled as phone left in plane loo sparks terrorism alert

TWO 1,550mph RAF fighter jets raced to intercept a Ryanair airliner on Sunday night – all because a mobile phone was left in the toilet.

The formidable Typhoons were scrambled after airline staff discovered the ‘suspicious object’.

The plane was escorted to Stansted Airport, where a swarm of counter-terror police arrested two men.

The operation appeared to have been for naught. The detainees, a 34were year-old Kuwaiti national and a 48year-old Italian, were later released without charge after the object was found to be nothing but a phone.

Ryanair staff had raised the alarm after taking off from Vienna.

The captain phoned the authorities and the Typhoon jets were sent from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.

Armed police surrounded the airliner on the Essex runway, according to passengers.

Author Joanna Czechowska, who had been on board, said passengers told to keep their seatbelts on as police boarded and took the two men away. ‘That was scary,’ she wrote on Twitter.

The men were detained under the Terrorism Act, confirmed a spokesman for the police Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU). ‘After examination by specialist investigators, the object was found not to be of concern,’ they added.

‘Officers spoke with the two men and neither were considered to have committed any offences.’

The Kuwaiti man has been referred to the Border Force, but this was not related to the incident, the spokesman added.

Detective Superintendent Andy Waldie, head of ERSOU’s Counter Terrorism Policing unit, said: ‘We understandably take any reports of suspicious objects or behaviour on flights very seriously and thankfully on this occasion there was no cause for concern. I’d like to thank those on the flight for their co-operation and understanding while officers conducted their inquiries.’

Ryanair said all passengers on board had disembarked safely.

‘Armed police on the runway’