A British Airways flight has taken off from a Paris airport after it was searched by armed police because of a “direct threat” to the plane.
Flight number BA0303 was held on the tarmac at Charles de Gaulle and surrounded by police and fire vehicles at around 8am UK time this morning.
British Airways said: “The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority.
On British Airways flight BA0303, currently being held on tarmac at Paris due to security threat, surrounded by police and fire vehicles.
— James Anderson (@jsa) September 17, 2017
“Additional security checks are being carried out as a precaution.
“We would never operate a flight unless it is safe to do so.”
At around 11.10am, a British Airways spokeswoman confirmed the flight had taken off.
The airline did not state the nature of the alleged threat.
— James Anderson (@jsa) September 17, 2017
British traveller James Anderson, 20, tweeted a snap of the plane and security services.
He posted: “On British Airways flight BA0303, currently being held on tarmac at Paris due to security threat, surrounded by police and fire vehicles.”
He added: “Apparently an individual has made a direct threat to this aircraft.
“We will all be led off the aircraft and baggage searched in due course.”
— James Anderson (@jsa) September 17, 2017
He then posted: “Everybody’s been individually searched by armed officers and given all clear.
“Now hold luggage being searched by dogs.”
Mr Anderson later tweeted: “Pilot: ‘Aircraft has been deemed absolutely safe. Authorities are satisfied with the search. We will continue on to London Heathrow’.”
He added: “Our pilot was an absolute credit to @British_Airways. Extremely calm and composed, handled the situation wonderfully.”
The security alert comes amid heightened tensions in the UK in the wake of the failed bomb plot on a District Line train at Parsons Green on Friday.
#BA303 flight #BritishAirways : controls completed. Passengers get back on board. Departure from #CDG to London in few minutes.
— Paris Aéroport (@ParisAeroport) September 17, 2017
Intelligence chiefs raised the threat level to “critical” meaning that a second attack could be imminent.
France has been one of the countries hardest hit by terror attacks in recent years, with 130 killed in the Paris attacks in November 2015, and 84 killed in the Nice attacks in July last year.
There have been a number of smaller attacks, while the doomed EgyptAir flight MS804 which crashed into the Mediterranean in May 2016, possibly due to an explosion, also took off from Charles de Gaulle.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here