Air France: Bomb scare on Paris-bound flight was 'false alarm'

A suspicious device found on an Air France jet flying from Mauritius to Paris was a false alarm, the airline has said.

Frédéric Gagey, Air France Chief Executive, told a press conference the device didn't present a danger to the flight or passengers.

Police are investigating the incident.

ITV News Africa Correspondent John Ray reports:

A suspicious device found on an Air France flight was a false alarm, the airline has said.

Frédéric Gagey, Air France Chief Executive, told a press conference the device didn't present a danger to the flight or passengers.

He said he had contacted the French prosecutor to open an investigation into the incident.

No explosives have been found as yet in a suspicious device left on an Air France flight, a Kenyan police official has told Associated Press.

The police official said a device that looked like "a stopwatch mounted on a box" was found by a passenger on board Flight 643 and reported to crews, forcing the plane to divert to Mombasa.

The box has been taken apart and no explosives have been found but the digital watch has not yet been analyzed, the official said.

Kenyan officials now say a "suspicious object" was found on an Air France flight after initially saying a bomb had been discovered.

Kenya Airports Authority initially said "a bomb" had been found onboard Flight 463 but later updated a statement to say a "suspicious object" had been retrieved.

An updated statement has now been posted on their official Facebook page:

Air France have not confirmed the nature of the device found on the Paris-bound flight.

A spokesman for the airline said: "We have absolutely no official confirmation regarding the precise nature of the object from Kenyan authorities."

Six passengers are being questioned over a suspect device found on an Air France plane that forced the flight to make an emergency landing in Kenya, a Kenyan police official told Associated Press.

The police official said during the flight, from Mauritius to Paris, a passenger noticed something in a lavatory that looked like "a stopwatch mounted on a box."

He reported the device to the cabin crew, who informed the pilots, leading to an emergency landing at Moi International Airport in Mombasa.

The official said one of those being interrogated is the man who reported the package.

A security source has told ITV News that early indications suggest no explosive component was found on a device found on board a Air France flight.

Kenyan authorities said a bomb was found on Flight 463 and that "the explosive had been carried away to safe place outside the airport."

Air France have not confirmed the nature of the device found on the Paris-bound flight.

A spokesman for the airline said: "We have absolutely no official confirmation regarding the precise nature of the object from Kenyan authorities."

Kenya Airports Authority says it has found a bomb on the Air France flight from Mauritius to Paris that made an emergency landing in Mombasa.

Flight 463 carrying 459 passengers, three pilots and 11 cabin crew from Mauritius to Paris was diverted to Mombasa after a suspect device was discovered in a toilet onboard.

Air France have not confirmed the nature of the device.

A spokesman said: "We have absolutely no official confirmation regarding the precise nature of the object from Kenyan authorities."

A number of passengers on board a flight that was diverted over a bomb scare are being questioned by Kenyan authorities, the interior minister said.

Joseph Nkaisserry said an undisclosed number of passengers who were on the Air France flight are being questioned but did not say if they were under arrest.

Bomb experts are working to establish whether the components of a suspect device found in a toilet on the flight contained explosives.

Mr Nkaisserry said: "We are in touch with Mauritius to know how security screening of passengers was done. A few passengers are being interrogated."

Passengers on board a plane diverted due to a bomb scare said they were not met aware of the suspected threat and thought there was simply a technical problem.

Passenger Benoit Lucchini, from Paris, said: "The plane just went down slowly, slowly, slowly.

"So we just realized probably something was wrong, but the personnel of Air France were just great. They were just wonderful. So they kept everybody calm.

"We did not know what was happening."