EgyptAir Passengers; 5 Seek Asylum in U.K. After Plane Bound for New York City is Diverted to Scotland
Five passengers from an EgyptAir flight diverted to an airport in Glasgow, Scotland over an apparent threatening note found on board that indicated potential destruction of the aircraft are now seeking asylum in Britain, authorities said Sunday, ABC News reported.
The note was found about three hours into the flight.
Flight 985 bound for JFK airport in New York City from Cairo was forced to make an emergency landing on Saturday, June 15 after a threatening note was found in the plane's restroom.
BBC producer Nada Tawfik was travelling with her 2-year-old daughter and said she found the note, which was written in pencil on a napkin, inside the sink about three hours into the flight. Tawfik said she immediately reported it to the cabin crew, who then locked the toilet.
"This flight will be on fire," the note read.
British Typhoon fighter jets escorted the plane to Glasgow's Prestwick Airport, where a heavy police presence met the flight. No arrests were made and the flight was eventually permitted to complete the trip to the U.S.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said that five people out of the flight's 326 passengers were now apparently claiming asylum in Britain, The Associated Press reported.
EgyptAir CEO Tawfeek Asi said from Cairo that the five passengers were allegedly identified as Syrians.
However, the Scottish police spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she could not provide any information about their nationality. She said office protocol forbade her from identifying herself publicly.
A Massachusetts woman aboard the flight said passengers were told the plane had to make an unscheduled landing because of a technical problem.
But when they landed in Scotland, she said SWAT teams met the plane.
"They kept us on the plane for like three hours with the police around us and then it was about an hour or two in when I realized they had guns trained on us," Cassandra Wilson told 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck.