Ryanair flight scare ‘suspected hoax’

A security scare on board a Ryanair flight that was escorted by RAF jets and saw flights at Stansted Airport grounded was a suspected hoax, the airline said.

Passengers were evacuated after the plane was diverted from its route between Kaunas, Lithuania, and Luton Airport, and forced to land at Stansted at around 8.55am on Wednesday.

Social media users posted pictures of armed police at the scene and the RAF Typhoon jets following the aircraft through the air. Essex Police said officers found nothing suspicious on board.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from Kaunas to London Luton diverted to London Stansted in line with procedures after Lithuanian authorities received a suspected hoax security alert.

“The aircraft landed normally at Stansted and customers will be transferred to Luton by coach when cleared to do so.”

A spokesman for the airport said all flights had now resumed after being held for about 10 minutes.

One passenger, Jonathan Zulberg, said the flight had been delayed for up to 40 minutes in Lithuania. He said a stewardess told him there had been a bomb threat made in Lithuania.

“When I heard I was pretty surprised the plane was allowed to take off.”

Stansted is a designated airport for dealing with hijacks and major security alerts.