French fighter jets intercepted an Aer Lingus flight on Thursday after a bomb threat forced the plane to divert to a military base.
Flight EI402 departed Dublin Airport at 6:40 am carrying 151 passengers and six crew members, according to Irishcentral. The crew transmitted squawk code 7700 about 90 minutes into the flight at 37,000 feet over France after receiving a bomb threat, AIRLIVE reported.
French fighter jets intercepted the Airbus A320 and ordered it to land at Évreux-Fauville Air Base in Normandy. The Prime Minister’s office said that fighter jets were scrambled because the pilot initially preferred a civilian airport over the military facility, which French prosecutor Rémi Coutin called a specific violation of the transport code.
The European Cockpit Association said that the flight crew objected to landing at Évreux because they lacked the necessary aeronautical charts and operational information for the military airfield, according to One Mile at a Time. The union said that the pilots were threatened with criminal charges if they did not comply with the military diversion.
French prosecutors subsequently launched a criminal investigation into the two pilots, as reported by Policy Wire. Both crew members underwent questioning before being permitted to leave the country.
The diversion procedure for the Airbus A320 carrying 151 passengers and six crew members was initiated immediately after the threat was reported, according to a spokesperson for the office of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. The situation was monitored in real time by the Prime Minister’s office while bomb disposal teams and security personnel managed the aircraft upon landing.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, or EASA, and the U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority establish the safety rules and standards that govern how airlines prepare their flight crews to handle security threats, while air traffic control units assist aircraft in identifying appropriate landing locations during emergencies.
The threats originated from emails sent to airport operators and aviation logistics companies, including Aeroporti di Roma. The messages were signed by the Male State, a radical Russian right-wing extremist movement founded in 2016 by Vladislav Pozdnyakov.
“Any threats against civilians are unacceptable. Ensuring the safety and security of citizens remains a priority,” said Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, according to Irishcentral.
“This is really quite exceptional, I've never seen this before in my whole career,” Wilfried Covent, head of security firm Covent Consulting with a specialization in aviation, told CNBC.
Philip Baum, a visiting professor of aviation security at Coventry University, told AP that a single diversion can cost an airline up to $250,000, as reported by CNBC.
“Diversions necessitated by these bomb threats are a disturbance to a system designed for predictability and efficiency, and lead to increased workload for pilots, Air Traffic Controllers and airports,” an EASA spokesperson told CNBC in emailed comments.
“We've had bomb threats in flights and towards airports, but usually maybe a single copycat, one or two max. What we see now is a systematic attack on airlines and airports,” Wilfried Covent, head of security firm Covent Consulting with a specialization in aviation, told CNBC.
Earlier coverage: Bomb Hoax Threats Force 27 European Flights to Divert or Land