British Man Held in Norway Over Ryanair Bomb Threat

A picture taken on July 17, 2020, shows an aircraft of Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair on the tarmac of the Gardemoen airport about 50 km (30 miles) northeast of the Norwegian capital, where the aircraft landed safely after a bomb threat. Berit Roald/NTB Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images

Norwegian police have arrested a 51-year-old British man over a bomb threat against a Ryanair plane flying from London Stansted to Oslo.

The flight safely landed in Oslo’s main airport on Friday after receiving the bomb threat in mid-air. A bomb squad was carrying out a security search on the plane, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported.

There were 142 passengers in addition to crew on board the plane. The passengers were being taken care of at an airport reception centre, the report stated.

“Crew on a Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Oslo today (July 17) discovered a note that claimed there was a potential security threat on board,” a Ryanair spokesperson said in an email to The Epoch Times.

“The captain followed procedures and continued to Oslo airport where the plane landed safely.”

A 51-year-old British citizen is suspected of being linked to the bomb threat and has been arrested for questioning, police spokesperson Marit Furuseth said.

Danish F-16 fighters are seen during the Danish Air Show 2014 at Karup Air Base in Karup, on June 22, 2014. Henning Bagger/AFP via Getty Images

Denmark scrambled F-16 fighter jets to escort the flight to Oslo, the Danish Defence Command said on Twitter.

“F-16 aircraft from the Armed Forces have assisted in connection with a bomb threat on a Ryanair aircraft that flew from Stansted to Oslo. The Danish F-16 aircraft have landed in Norway to refuel before flying back to Denmark,” the Danish military posted.

“The Danish planes were the closest, so therefore they were the ones who escorted the plane to Oslo,” Elise Eikeland, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Armed Forces, explained to Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper.

The bomb threat comes a few days after a note claiming there were explosives on the plane was found in the toilet of another Ryanair flight from Krakow to Dublin, according to the BBC.