Seven European flights hit by bomb threats, searches turn up nothing

Planes, panic, and a whole lot of nothing. Seven passenger flights across Europe got hit with suspected bomb threats Tuesday, triggering searches in Rome, Poland, Spain, and Bulgaria. Two Ryanair jets landing in Rome — one from Dublin, one from Lisbon — were inspected after anonymous tips, sources at Fiumicino airport told the BBC. No explosives. The Dublin flight even got an Italian air force escort on its way down.

Two of the seven took off from the UK. A Ryanair flight from Manchester to Murcia, Spain, got the full treatment: passenger Sarah told BBC Radio 5 Live the plane stopped suddenly, sat on the runway for about 30 minutes, then fire engines, police, and a bomb squad swarmed it. Everyone evacuated without their belongings. 'We were only later told that it was an actual threat,' she said. The other UK departure, a London Heathrow flight bound for Warsaw, was diverted to Modlin airport, briefly shutting it down.

Bulgaria's Transport Minister Georgi Peev said two planes heading to Sofia — from Bergamo, Italy, and Dublin — were also threatened. They landed normally and no explosives were found. Border police told the BBC they got an email around 10:35 local time about an improvised explosive device on the Bergamo flight, and the same email flagged a similar threat on the Dublin flight. In Warsaw, a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen landed as planned.

Aviation security expert Paul Mason told BBC Radio 5 Live these threats 'don't happen that frequently,' and the fact they hit a 'broad range of airlines' in a 'credible manner' suggests a 'very deliberate act.' The UK government called the incidents 'malicious hoax threats' and said its aviation security systems are among the world's most robust.

It all comes a day after a Wizz Air flight from London Luton made an emergency landing in Budapest, escorted by a Hungarian fighter jet, after a bomb threat. Wizz Air said checks found nothing. Former pilot Marco Chan, now a lecturer at Kingston University, told BBC Verify that bomb threats are treated as genuine until resolved — crews quietly search toilets and galleys, and don't touch suspicious items unless they must. Once on the ground, planes go to an isolated stand, passengers get off, and bomb disposal teams take over. Captain Terry Tozer said the pilot weighs factors like diversion airport facilities and how to continue if it's a false alarm.