Suspicious device found on Air France flight headed to Paris, CEO says 'false alarm'
The flight made an emergency landing in Kenya after a suspicious device was found in one of the toilets.
By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERSUpdated: DECEMBER 20, 2015 17:18Bomb found on board Air France flight headed to Paris
A bomb was found on board an Air France flight heading to Paris on Sunday after a suspicious device was discovered in one of the plane's toilets. The device was found to be harmless and the incident was a "false alarm," airline Chief Executive Frederic Gagey told a news conference on Sunday.Air France Flight 463 was flying from Port Louis, Mauritius toward Paris, France, when it made an emergency landing in Mombasa, Kenya, according to the Kenya Airports Authority,Police Inspector General Joseph Boinnet said on his Twitter account that the Boeing 777 aircraft carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew, was safely evacuated after it landed at the airport at 12:37 a.m. on Sunday, local time.Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said that an undisclosed number of passengers who were aboard the flight and were being questioned about the suspect device, but did not say if they were under arrest."We are in touch with Mauritius to know how security screening of passengers was done. A few passengers are being interrogated," he said."They are (being) taken care of by Mombasa's airport ground staff and will be accommodated. An investigation is being led by the authorities to identify the source of the threat," it said."All the information available to us at the moment indicates that the object was not capable of creating an explosion or damaging a plane, but was rather a mixture of cardboard, sheets of paper and a timer," Gagey said. "It was a false alarm."The airline said it was working to re-route its passengers and was sending another plane to Mombasa to fly them to Paris."This Mombasa - Paris flight is scheduled to leave in the late afternoon of Sunday, December 20," it said.Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said on its Twitter account that flights from Mombasa airport were disrupted due to the emergency landing and the Airport Authority said that the airport and all nearby facilities have been secured.