An Air France Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner registered F-HRBF was evacuated after making a safe landing following a suspected bomb threat. Air France Flight 865 from N’Djamena, Chad (NDJ) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) in France reported the incident shortly after the aircraft’s departure from Chad.
According to French radio network RTL, the flight crew were notified that there “may be an explosive device onboard the aircraft” by an undisclosed radio caller during the flight with air traffic controllers immediately advising the crew that they had received a bomb threat. An Air France spokesperson has since told the media that “receiving bomb threats in this way (over the radio in flight) is highly unusual and will lead to a full investigation.”
Upon notification of the incident to air traffic controllers in France, the French Government immediately responded by sending two French Air Force Dassault Rafale fighter jets to escort the aircraft to its final destination at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Once on the ground in Paris, the aircraft was parked at an isolated remote stand away from the airport’s terminal buildings where all passengers and crew were checked by security as they disembarked. Despite the presence of the bomb threat, a full search of the aircraft was conducted and no explosive device or suspicious items were found onboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The in-flight incident temporarily launched the French Government’s Interministral Crisis Unit into action who were tasked with organising the aircraft’s safe passage to Paris and the security forces who met and searched the aircraft on arrival at Charles de Gaulle Airport. The unit will now be tasked with investigating the origin and motive of the now fake bomb threat.
Air France has since responded to the incident by stating “the safety of its passengers and crew are first and foremost in incidents like this” and both its pilots and cabin crew are highly trained to deal with incidents like bomb threats.
The Air France incident comes just over a week since a similar bomb threat was made involving a Ryanair Boeing 737-800. On May 30th Ryanair flight 4978 diverted to Minsk at the request of Belarusian authorities, after landing in Minsk, the Belarusian authorities detained two passengers.
The incident later being described by the aviation international community as a “hijack” of a commercial passenger aircraft. Since this incident, numerous countries have banned flights from Belarus while other nations have advised airline’s not to fly over Belarusian airspace.
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Source: https://aeronewsx.com/air-france-787-suffers-mid-flight-bomb-scare/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=air-france-787-suffers-mid-flight-bomb-scare
