A fighter jet was scrambled to escort a Qatar Airways passenger plane as it approached Britain's Manchester Airport on Tuesday following an alleged hoax bomb threat by a passenger, police said. The Typhoon military jet was sent to meet flight QR23 arriving from Doha after its pilot received information "about a possible device on board," Greater Manchester Police said. Eyewitnesses on the ground tweeted pictures of the jet alongside the Airbus A330, which later landed safely at the northern England airport.
A short time after landing the airliner, with its 282 passengers and crew, was taken to the passenger terminal. Armed police escorted one of the passengers from the plane in handcuffs and he was later arrested "on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat," a police spokesman told NBC News. Chief Superintendent John O’Hare said in an earlier statement that it was "absolutely vital we deal with the situation as a full emergency" but urged people not to be alarmed.