Bomb hoax grounds plane

A Singapore Airlines flight to New York diverted to Manchester Airport following a bomb threat has been cleared to continue its journey, an airport spokeswoman said today.

The Boeing 747-400 took off from Frankfurt at 8.31am bound for JFK airport, but was diverted to Manchester after German authorities received a hoax bomb threat.
The plane landed safely without a military escort.

The 292 passengers and 19 crew members were taken off the flight SQ26 and security screened while police searched the plane.

It was declared safe and took off from Manchester shortly after 1.50pm to resume its journey to New York, the airport spokeswoman said.

It is the fourth flight to be diverted due to bomb threats in the past nine days.

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said: "The plane travelling from Frankfurt to New York that was diverted to Manchester Airport this morning has been declared safe.

"All passengers have been screened and the airline is happy that all the necessary checks have been carried out.

"The plane will continue its journey to New York later this afternoon."