UK Scrambles Jets, Busts 1 in Bomb Threat

A Qatar Airways flight has landed at Manchester Airport in the UK and a man swiftly arrested on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat. British Royal Air Force fighter jets escorted the plane following a report from the pilot that a "possible device" was aboard, a military official tells the BBC. Upon landing, Greater Manchester Police escorted someone off the plane; everyone else left the plane as normal, says an airport spokesman. "When the escort came it was very scary—I'm pretty shook up now," one passenger tells the BBC. The plane carried 269 passengers and 13 crew. Flights were postponed for 25 minutes.

Officials say it was "vital we deal with the situation as a full emergency," though they weren’t sure the threat was genuine. Qatar Airways was also vigilant, taking "all the necessary precautions to alert British authorities. The crew is now fully assisting police at the airport with their inquiries," the airline says in a statement. One witness from Heaton Moor heard the fighter jets while in his garden. "I live on the flight path so I'm used to seeing planes coming in to land, but it's the first time this has ever happened in the four to five years I've been here," he tells the BBC. To see a video of the escort, click here. (More airplane stories.)