False alarm after suspicious device forces landing of Air France flight

An Air France flight on route to Paris made an emergency landing in the Kenyan city of Mombasa on Sunday following a bomb scare that turned out to be a false alarm, according to a company official.

Airfrance Chief Executive Frederic Gagey speaks during a news conference in Paris, France December 20, 2015. Photo By Jacky Naegelen/Reuters

Flight AF463 was packed with 459 passengers and 14 crew members as it left the tiny island-nation of Mauritius off the coast of Africa Saturday night when a device described as suspicious by the authorities was found by a passenger in the airplane’s bathroom.

The object was made from cardboard and paper and had a timer affixed to it, according to Air France’s chief executive Frederic Gagey.  A passenger who found the device told a cabin crew member about the discovery who informed the plane’s captain, causing the Boeing 777 to be redirected to Kenya.

A bomb squad entered the plane and removed the item, though Gagey said it did not appear to be dangerous.

“This object did not contain explosives,” Gagey said in Paris. “It was a false alarm.”

Kenyan authorities told the Guardian six people are now being questioned about the device, including the man who initially reported it to the crew.

Passengers who were on board an Air France Boeing 777 aircraft that made an emergency landing are escorted from Moi International Airport in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa. Photo By Joseph Okanga/Reuters

Gagey said passengers were evacuated from the plane on emergency slides. One person who was on the flight and interviewed by reporters in Kenya said initially some crew members told passengers the aircraft was encountering technical problems.

“The plane just went down slowly, slowly, slowly, so we just realized probably something was wrong,” passenger Benoit Lucchini of Paris told the Associated Press. “The personnel of Air France was just great, they were just wonderful. So they keep everybody calm. We did not know what was happening.”

The incident Sunday was the third time an Air France plane had been redirected since the terror attacks in Paris last month. France remains in a state of emergency.

Normal airport operations have since resumed at Moi International Airport in Mombasa, authorities said.