Retired policeman released in fake Air France bomb case

A fake bomb discovered aboard Air France flight 463 on Sunday prompted an emergency landing on Mombasa, Kenya while the plane was en route to Paris.

The suspects left for Paris on Sunday night at 9pm together with other passengers of the plane which made an emergency landing in Mombasa following the bomb scare.

All 459 passengers and 14 crew members on the Boeing 777 were safely evacuated down airplane emergency slides.

According to reports, a 58-year-old ex-policeman from the Indian Ocean island of Reunion and his wife have been detained by police in Paris.

The suspect package was taken away for examination and Air France chief executive Frederic Gagey later said it was made of a cardboard box, paper and a timer.

Air France filed a reckless endangerment lawsuit, spokeswoman Ulli Gendrot said Monday.

A child rests as passengers go through security screening at Moi International Airport Mombasa Kenya, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015 after their earlier flight was involved in a bomb scare and they were evacuated to different hotels in Mombasa.

“If one or more passengers bring those items in separately and then assemble them together before getting on the plane, there is not much anyone can do”.

“This object did not contain explosives”, he told a news conference in Paris.

Six passengers are being questioned over the incident, said a Kenyan police official, who is part of the investigation and who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the press.

It does not name a particular perpetrator, but leaves it to investigators to determine who might eventually stand trial.

Two Air France flights from the U.S.to Paris were diverted on November 18 after bomb threats were received.

Air France, meanwhile, has been the target of three prior hoaxes, all in the United States.

“A couple of people got twisted ankles but no one was seriously injured”, Mr Ciaran said.

Airlines are especially anxious after jihadis from Islamic State, which claimed the Paris attacks, also said they were responsible for downing a Russian jet in Egypt in October after smuggling a bomb on to the plane, killing all 224 people on board.