LONDON: A Manchester-bound PIA passenger airplane, which was diverted to an isolated runway at an airport on the outskirts of London after two travelers threatened to ‘destroy the plane’ during their argument, has been flown to its destination.
According to sources, the entire issue was created after the two British nationality holder Pakistani nationals reportedly had a spat with the crew and were later arrested.
Mashood Tajwar, a spokesman for PIA, said 297 passengers and 11 crew members were on the plane, adding that two passengers Tayyab Subhani and Safdar Mehmood threatened to harm the plane putting the plane’s security was at risk; hence, the flight purser apprised the pilots of the threat in pursuance of the regulations.
He said then pilot rang the alarm bell. Later on, Flight P709 was traveling from Lahore to Manchester Airport when it was diverted by the fighter jets to Stansted Airport.
The British police said this incident is being treated as a criminal offense and that it was not being seen as a terror case.
Police released a passenger woman Ammara Ashraf and a man Shafqat after brief interrogation. The two Pakistan-origin British national belong to Kharian.
British police continued the investigations with the arrested two air travelers on suspicion of endangerment of the aircraft following a mid-air alert.
