(Newswire.net — December 20, 2015) — The CEO of Air France, Frederic Gagey, reported that the device discovered in the bathroom of Air France flight 463, was a fake bomb, reports AP.
“The device was made of cardboard, paper and a household timer. This object did not contain explosives”, said the head of the airline, and he congratulated the crew for their sober-blooded reaction to divert the aircraft.
Frederic Gagey denied, as well, any security failure in the flight. A strange object was found on the plane in the toilet, but CEO of Air France explained that a safety check was carried out in the bathroom before the flight.
A Kenyan official, who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said earlier on Sunday, that a passenger during the flight, noticed something in the bathroom that looked like a wristwatch set in a box.
The passenger informed the cabin staff, and the pilots made a decision for an emergency landing at the airport in the Mombada in Kenya.
There was 459 passengers and 14 crew members on the Boeing 777.
All passengers were safely evacuated and the device was removed.
Interior cabinet secretary of Kenya, Joseph Nkaissery, said in a press conference at the Mombasa Airport, that several people from the plane were being questioned, without specifying whether those people were passengers or crew.
Today’s incident with flight 463 is Air France’s third plane to be urgently landed in recent weeks. In November and December two other Air France aircrafts from the U.S. to Paris were diverted after bomb threats were received, but no explosives were found.
Since November 13th France has been under a state of emergency because of the brutal attacks by jihadists in Paris, when 130 people were killed and 350 injured.