False bomb scare diverts French flight
Photographs of the object, which didn't contain explosives, showed it appeared to be made of cardboard and a timer
Paris: A suspected bomb that forced Air France to divert a flight from Mauritius for an emergency landing early Sunday in Kenya turned out to be a fake, the head of the airline said.
Chief executive officer Frederic Gagey told reporters in Paris that Flight AF463 to Paris was searched before departing tMauritius on Saturday night. The aircraft made an unscheduled landing in Mombasa, Kenya shortly after midnight.
Air France has been the target of four bomb alerts in the past 15 days, including three on flights in the US, Gagey said.
The number of alerts increased following the terrorist attack in the French capital on 13 November that killed 130 people.
Air France-KLM said on 8 December that the attacks hurt its seat occupancy rate, with an impact on revenue for November estimated at about €50 million euros.
Gagey said no evidence was found to show security procedures were faulty and the airline will make a complaint.
Photographs of the object, which didn’t contain explosives, showed it appeared to be made of cardboard and a timer, Gagey said.
The company doesn’t know who prepared the package and how it got into the restroom or whether it was before or during the flight.
France’s foreign ministry earlier said its embassy in Kenya will help passengers find accommodation and return to Paris. Bloomberg
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