Ljubljana flight diverts over bomb alarm

NEWS FLASH

An easyJet flight from Ljubljana to London made an unscheduled stop in Germany yesterday evening after the pilot became concerned about a suspicious conversation on board. A passenger reportedly heard someone speaking about a “bomb”. The plane landed at Cologne-Bonn Airport at about 18.30 CEST. Airport authorities said in a statement that the 151 passengers on board disembarked the plane using emergency slides and were taken to a transit gate where they were checked by police. Police also destroyed a piece of baggage that couldn't be assigned to anybody on board in a controlled explosion. Three male passengers have since been detained by police. A spokesman for the police said, "We take the situation very seriously, but can not confirm that there was a concrete terror suspicion”. Take-offs and landings were suspended for three hours, causing ten flights to be diverted to other airports and delays to over a dozen more. “easyJet can confirm that flight EZY3246 from Ljubljana to London Stansted diverted to Cologne. The Captain took the decision as a precaution to enable the aircraft to go through additional security checks in Cologne where the aircraft was met by the police. In compliance with the local authorities guidance passengers disembarked to allow additional security checks to be performed”, an easyJet spokesperson said.