Following a hoax bomb threat made on social media by an 18-year-old passenger, a Spanish fighter jet was dispatched to intercept an easyJet flight.
According to the authorities, a teenage passenger on an easyJet flight posed a hoax bomb threat on social media, which led to the interception of the flight by a Spanish fighter jet.
South China Morning Post reports that the video clip taken on board the flight of the intercept shows the Spanish F/A-18 Hornet rocking its wings at the easyJet Airbus A319.
EasyJet's Fake Bomb Threat
The EasyJet flight was later disrupted while on air when a fighter jet decided to accompany the plane. The fighter jet deployed right beside the EasyJet flight was a response from an alleged bomb threat made by an 18-year-old British national.
The 18-year-old who faked the threat was a traveler from London going to Menorca, a popular holiday island in Spain along with his five other friends.
The fraudster was arrested at the Menorca airport and spent the night in jail. According to the Spanish police, the person is already due for a court hearing.
The easyJet flight safely arrived in Menorca without any incident just before 5 o'clock local time. The arrival time was approximately half an hour later than it had been scheduled to do so.
According to Gizmodo, the Spanish Civil Guard stated, "The passengers were disembarked and established protocol followed until police were able to confirm it was a false bomb threat, and the person responsible was identified on social media along with five other companions as witnesses."
The statement added, "They were taken to a police station so officers could clarify the situation."
Afterwards, it was taken to a screening area that was located some distance away from the main terminal. After the plane had touched down, the passengers were escorted off the aircraft one at a time and questioned by authorities regarding the contents of their bags.
This process took roughly two hours. Following that, all bags were inspected by dogs trained to sniff out explosives and specialists trained in defusing bombs.
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Responding to the Fake Bomb
One of the passengers on the flight took a video of the jet of the Spanish Civil Guard flying just outside the window of the aircraft.
The fighter plane can be seen rocking from side to side and flapping its wings, which is a signal used in the military to indicate that it has intercepted another aircraft.
The passenger Ian Leslie posted his video on Twitter, saying that the pilot received an air traffic radar code while on air.
IT
The orange wing tips in the video indicate that the aircraft used for the easyJet flight was an A-319, which typically has a capacity of between 120 and 150 passengers.
According to Paula Peralta the easyJet spokesperson stated, "easyJet can confirm flight EZY8303 from London Gatwick to Menorca on 3 July was escorted by military aircraft while landing in Menorca and delayed disembarking due to precautionary security checks."
The airline company stated that EasyJet's number one concern is always the well-being of its passengers and crew, and the airline would like to express its gratitude to its customers for their understanding in this matter.
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