Bomb-hoax airline passenger sectioned

AN air passenger who was arrested after making a hoax bomb threat on a plane which landed at Manchester Airport under an RAF Typhoon escort has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Police say the 47-year-old man, who hasn’t been named, was assessed by medical staff and again by a mental-health team to allow for a fuller assessment and appropriate treatment.

He is believed to be from the North-West. Fears were initially raised over “a possible device” by the pilot on board flight QR23, from Doha, Qatar, as it approached the airport at around 1pm yesterday.

Dramatic video footage and photos showed an RAF jet accompanying the Qatar Airways Airbus A330 as it made its descent, while passengers reported a man being removed from the plane after it landed safely.

Less than hour after the first reports, Greater Manchester Police confirmed they had made an arrest.

The airline said in a statement: “The crew had received a threat about a possible device on board and Qatar Airways immediately took all the necessary precautions to alert British authorities.”

There were 269 passengers and 13 Qatar Airways crew on board.
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