LOT flight from Warsaw lands in Brussels after suspicious alert as bomb threats hit European flights

The Brussels landing

On Thursday, 5 November, LOT flight LO235 left Warsaw Chopin airport and landed at Brussels Airport after a report of a possible threat to its safety. Reports give the departure as 7:45 and 7:22, and the landing as 9:31 and 9:26. The airport said it had been told of a suspicious report about the flight, and Federal Police assessed it and found no need for extra measures. The airline said its crew had been informed, ran a security check on board under standard procedures, and found no suspicious object. After the aircraft reached Zaventem, authorities carried out a further inspection, which confirmed that nothing dangerous was on board. The aircraft was a Boeing 737 Max.

A passenger from Mechelen told the Telegraaf that about an hour before landing the crew announced safety issues and checked every row of seats. Passengers left the plane in groups of fifteen, and police with explosives dogs checked the luggage before they were allowed through, a process the passenger said cost about twenty minutes.

Other flights diverted on Thursday

Several other flights were hit by bomb reports the same day, and the Telegraaf reported similar alerts on flights bound for Italy, Bulgaria, Austria and Finland. A Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome was escorted by military aircraft to Fiumicino, where security operations were still under way when RTBF reported. An Aer Lingus flight, EI402 from Dublin to Rome, was diverted to the French air base at Evreux in Normandy after a bomb alert, and the French air force sent up an aircraft to intercept it. Aer Lingus said the flight had landed safely and that it was working to get passengers to their final destinations as quickly as possible. A Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw was diverted to Vienna, and Bulgarian ministers said three aircraft had landed in Bulgaria after bomb reports. The French government said it was following the situation in real time.

Alerts earlier in the week

On Monday, 2 November, a Wizz Air flight from Luton to Sofia made an emergency landing in Budapest, escorted by two Hungarian fighter jets. On Tuesday, 3 November, about ten commercial flights were targeted by bomb alerts that authorities later found to be false. At least four Ryanair flights were among them, on the Manchester-Murcia, Lisbon-Rome, Dublin-Rome and Dublin-Sofia routes, and SAS, LOT and Wizz Air flights were also targeted. A runway at Warsaw was temporarily closed, and a LOT flight from London Heathrow was diverted to Warsaw Modlin. UK police were also told of threats against four aircraft at Heathrow and one at Manchester.

On Tuesday evening, the cruise ship Crown Iris was evacuated as a precaution at the Greek island of Syros after an unidentified person reported a possible explosive on its hull. No device had been found when the authorities last reported, and the investigation continued.

Open questions

The situation at Brussels Airport was brought under control quickly, but the matter is not yet closed. The Belgian Federal Police are checking whether the Brussels alert is linked to earlier, similar incidents that appear to be part of a series of attempts to disrupt international flights.