FROM GEO:
LONDON: British police Friday arrested two air travelers on suspicion of endangerment of the aircraft after forcing a Pakistan International Airways (PIA) flight with 297 passengers on board to land at Stansted airport following a mid-air alert, Geo News reported.
According to sources both the British nationality holder Pakistani nationals were arrested after they reportedly had a spat with the crew.
According to PIA sources the suspects had allegedly threatened to bomb the plane with explosives. A panicked stewardess alarmed the pilot, Captain Nadeem Sufi, who sent a stress signal to London control tower triggering the security alert, which led to the force-landing of the plane.
Initially Essex Police said that a man and a woman have been arrested and removed from the plane, which is on an isolated runway at the airport.
Reportedly, it all started after Mohammad Shafqat, Ammara Ashraf, traveling with a number of other family members, engaged in a hot argument, which went out of control forcing the crew to intervene, who were warned to stay out of it.
The quarreling family went as far threatening the crew that they were going to blow the plane up, which caused this whole panic. However they were released after police found out it was a petty domestic squabble.
Earlier, Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon jets were scrambled to intercept the PIA flight, which escorted the Manchester-bound flight to Stansted.
Flight PK709 from Lahore was due to land at Manchester Airport in north west England at 1230 GMT. The plane was diverted to Stansted airport, east of central London, according to a Manchester Airport spokesman.
Essex Police, who are responsible for the area where Stansted is located, said an incident had occurred on a flight and they were investigating.
"The plane diverted to Stansted Airport has now landed at the airport. Police + partners are continuing to respond," Essex Police in southeast England said in a Twitter message.
The news comes two days after a soldier was hacked to death on a London street in an incident the government are treating as a terrorist incident.
