Air France 777 diverted after fake bomb found in toilet; 2 detained

On Sunday, the Air France flight made an emergency landing in Mombasa, Kenya, after the discovery of the fake explosive rigged with cardboard, sheets of paper and a household timer.

A 58-year-old retired police officer was arrested when the aircraft arrived in Paris.

Joseph Nkaissery, Kenya’s interior minister, told CNN on Sunday that Kenyan authorities questioned four passengers from the flight over the incident.

One of those in police custody was an ex-police officer on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, Europe 1 radio said.

Several passengers were questioned in Mombasa before a plane was sent to return all those on board to France.

“We pay our captains to make good decisions and you’ve got to back them up”, said Robert Mann, a former airline executive who now is president of R.W. Mann & Company, Inc., an airline consulting firm in Port Washington, New York.

With France in a state of emergency since the Paris attacks and the United States on high alert since the attack in San Bernardino, California, that left 14 dead, hoaxes present a particular conundrum for security officials, who must choose between feeding mass fear and keeping the public in potential danger.

The airline “filed a legal complaint against unknown persons for endangering the life of others”, the spokesman said.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks and the October 31 downing of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt’s Sinai desert that killed all 224 people aboard. It is thought it was constructed while the plane was in the air.

But experts say airlines should be thinking more about what to do in an era of increasing security threats and hoaxes.

“All procedures at the airport have been reviewed and it was confirmed that they are scrupulously respected”, Duval said after he met with security and airport chiefs.

It was found by a passenger in a cabinet behind the restroom mirror, he said.

Gagey said crew members had also indicated that in their routine check of the plane before the flight, the cupboard had been empty.