Emergency landing after bomb threat

A transatlantic flight made an emergency landing yesterday after an unruly and aggressive passenger reportedly claimed there was a bomb on board.

The 44-year-old Dutch man allegedly made the threat on the flight from Amsterdam to the Caribbean, prompting the pilot to divert to Shannon Airport in the west of Ireland.

All 224 passengers and 11 crew were evacuated from the aircraft while the man was arrested.

The holidaymakers were later transferred to another plane to continue their journey.

A spokesman for the Dutch flight operator Arkefly said the man was being abusive to crew but was not physically threatening. She said: "He seemed confused and aggressive and threatened that he had planted a bomb on board the plane. When he did that our cockpit crew decided to land the airplane in the nearest airport possible. That was Shannon Airport in Ireland."

Yesterday's incident came at a time of heightened airline security after Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day. He boarded his flight to Detroit in Amsterdam, where security has since been stepped up.

The Boeing 767 to the island of Aruba in the Dutch Antilles was about two hours into its journey yesterday and around 210 nautical miles north west of Shannon when the request to land was received.

It touched down at about 10.30 a.m.

The Arkefly spokesman said a member of the crew guarded the man until the flight landed at Shannon and he was handed over to the authorities.

Airport authorities in Shannon said the grounded plane was brought to a remote area where it will be kept isolated until the flight time expires.

A spokesman for Shannon Airport said: "They let the flight time elapse and only then do they search it."