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RAF escorts Ryanair plane to Stansted after 'suspected hoax security alert'

The flight was from Kaunas, in Lithuania, to London Luton, and the alarm was raised by Lithuanian authorities.

THE UK’S ROYAL Air Force (RAF) escorted a Ryanair flight to Stansted Airport this morning, over a security alert onboard.

The flight from Kaunas, in Lithuania, to London Luton was diverted “in line with procedures after Lithuanian authorities received a suspected hoax security alert”, a Ryanair spokesperson told TheJournal.ie.

They added: “The aircraft landed normally at Stansted and customers will be transferred to Luton by coach when cleared to do so.”

An RAF spokesperson confirmed that it scrambled an aircraft to intercept the Ryanair plane.

Stansted Airport said that the airport is open and operating normally after flights were held briefly while the flight was diverted at 8.55am this morning.

The plane landed safely with Essex Police in attendance, a Stansted spokesperson told TheJournal.ie.

Essex Police tweeted that it was “aware of an incident at Stansted Airport” and would provide an update as soon as possible.

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    Mute Des Doran
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:05 AM

    Someone rang and said , there’s a pilot on the plane

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    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:09 AM

    @Des Doran: probably O’Leary was in the fighter and the pilot was in the cabin with management being forced to sign a new contract.

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    Mute Derrick O Neill
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:24 AM

    It must of been arriving on time that it raised suspicion

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    Mute JJ Sharkey
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    Oct 4th 2017, 9:46 AM

    It was just a new union ballot box for the pilots

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    Mute David Knight
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    Oct 4th 2017, 9:45 AM

    And what on earth would the escort be able to do if the plane had a bomb and it detonated?

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    Mute Paraic McDonagh
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    Oct 4th 2017, 9:51 AM

    @David Knight: Where does the article mention a bomb? Have you already forgotten about 911?

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    Mute Ne
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    Oct 4th 2017, 9:57 AM

    @Paraic McDonagh: He said “if”.

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    Mute Paraic McDonagh
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:15 AM

    @Ne: ‘IF’ the plane blew up, that would bring the RAF pilots mission to an end.

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    Mute Casper
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:22 AM

    @David Knight: the RAF planes could fly under the Ryanair plane and when it detonates they could catch all the debris from it before it hits the ground, but thank goodness nothing like that has happened

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    Mute B9xiRspG
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    Oct 4th 2017, 10:43 AM

    @David Knight: the plane blowing up iid air isn’t the main issue, it being used as a missile and crashing into a built up area like London is why the fighter jet is there.

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    Mute Tweety McTweeter
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:22 AM

    Would the RAF shoot down an airliner if they thought it was going to be flown into a building?

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    Mute Ian
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    Oct 4th 2017, 12:06 PM

    @Tweety McTweeter: absolutely

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    Mute Casper
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    Oct 4th 2017, 12:21 PM

    @Ian: how do you know do you work for the RAF or are you one of these guys that thinks he knows everything

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    Mute Ian
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    Oct 4th 2017, 12:41 PM

    @Casper: RAF no, but it’s a fair assumption that they would operate the same as other western airforce, and they don’t scramble to get a better view for the pilot

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    Mute Joerg Steegmueller
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    Oct 4th 2017, 1:04 PM

    @Ian: What’s the legal basis for shooting down a civilian plane? And how much training of shooting down planes to AVOID damage in built up areas do RAF pilots have?
    I am sure they are well trained in shooting down planes in general, but I would expect that that training doesn’t consider the consequences afterwards too much. Planes usually don’t drop like stones onto an an empty parking lot.

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    Mute Paraic McDonagh
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    Oct 4th 2017, 1:47 PM

    @Ian: I tend to agree with you. They would’ve shot it down if the circumstances decreed. Just saw a BBC documentary recently where during the could war, entire squadrons of RAF bomber pilots sat in prefabs dressed in full flight gear next to their Vulcan aircraft on a 24/7 rotating shift rota. The idea was, early warning radar would give 4 minutes for them to scramble. As one pilot put it, they would then go on a one way mission to destroy the world. So I think they are capable.

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    Mute Ian
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    Oct 4th 2017, 2:41 PM

    @Joerg Steegmueller: I ain’t a lawyer but civilian planes have been shot down numerous times, sometimes accidentally but not always so it’s not an unheard of legal situation. And if the action was done to prevent even greater loss of life it would be more legally sound then other shoot downs.
    As for training the requirments would obviously be extreme, also keep in mind that most if not all civilian planes would have a military variant that pilots would train against.

    Finallly, as to the consequences, that’s exactly we they scramble in the first place, to try to control exactly where an already doomed plane goes down, it’s a crappy situation no matter how it plays out, with no winner’s. Personally I’d have the utmost respect for a pilot faced with the responsibility of that decision

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    Mute David Knight
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    Oct 4th 2017, 4:19 PM

    @Paraic McDonagh: Good point. Once it was only over the sea.

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    Mute Ros Aodha
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:14 AM

    All fun and games, but food for thought, if this happens to a ryanair flight entering irish airspace – we actually dont have any fighter aircraft that can escort it, unless it slows down a bit and flies lower.
    Top speed of Boeing 737 800 (ryanair) = 871kmph
    vs
    Top speed of Pilatus PC9 (Irish Air Corps armed aircraft) = 593 kmph
    Im sure we would delightedly cheer as we go cap in hand to UK to beg for fighters from the RAF to fly into irish airspace and escort it.

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    Mute Ian
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    Oct 4th 2017, 12:16 PM

    @Ros Aodha: it’s all good, us Paddys have it sussed, we’re gonna go with the provide terrorists with a safe haven so they will be nice to us plan

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    Mute Richard Keogh
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    Oct 4th 2017, 1:27 PM

    @Ros Aodha: There is a bilateral agreement in place already that allows the RAF enter Irish airspace in such an event.

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    Mute Shane Carroll
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    Oct 4th 2017, 2:03 PM

    @Ros Aodha: We are running a tax deficit still, that is we are borrowing more than we take in. Do you propose that we borrow more to get fighter jets or maybe you would be happy to increase the tax you pay to help buy and service them?!! With all the other issues in the country i would say not having fighter jets is a long way down the list!

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    Mute Ros Aodha
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    Oct 4th 2017, 2:08 PM

    @Shane Carroll: or we reduce overseas aid by 100m a year and lease a squadron of saab gripen fighters like slovakia and czech republic.

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    Mute Ian
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    Oct 4th 2017, 2:44 PM

    @Shane Carroll: a better solution would be that we leverage our new position as the EU’s western most outpost once the brits leave and make the EU pay

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    Mute Ros Aodha
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    Oct 4th 2017, 3:21 PM

    @Richard Keogh: Im aware of the MOU -
    frankly its not good enough, why should the UK taxpayer fork out for our protection? we should increase defence expenditure – as a percentage of GDP – to match our european partners.
    https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/royal-air-force-asked-defend-ireland/

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    Mute Shane Carroll
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    Oct 4th 2017, 3:33 PM

    @Ros Aodha: didn’t we have to suspend aid to Uganda a few years ago because the money was being spent on military equipment?! Madness.
    Also we had some jets in the 60′s.vampires I think they were called

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    Mute Ian
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    Oct 4th 2017, 4:05 PM

    @Shane Carroll: we had ‘jets’ up until the late 90′s in the form of the fouga magistars for what they were worth

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    Mute Andrew Mockler
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    Oct 4th 2017, 9:51 AM

    great balls of fire!!! Ryanair has lost all their top guns, and are flying into the danger zone, they had the need for speed but the pilots will never be happy until they are doing Mach 2 with their hair on fire. let’s turn and burn!

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    Mute Adrian Cronin
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    Oct 4th 2017, 9:54 AM

    @Andrew Mockler: Roger that Goose. Bandit on your six

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    Mute Tom Lavin
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    Oct 4th 2017, 12:12 PM

    RAF were probably caught of guard that a Ryanair plane had a piolt

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    Mute Richard Kenny
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:25 AM

    It was interview for new pilots

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    Mute Rachel Didleu
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:22 AM

    Hi Sean, Have been searching for a quote to cover Mollie and Sconce again Milton comes up Trump…Book 11 Paradise Lost (get it)……But all was false and hallow..Though his tongue dropped manna…..Could make the worse appear the butter….Reason to perplex and dash maturest counsels…..Jaysus he was good…actually he predicted the demise of The Monarch in bookone..

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    Mute Mr D
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    Oct 4th 2017, 11:18 AM

    Why do they scramble aircraft, seems like a waste

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    Mute Colm O'Sullivan
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    Oct 4th 2017, 12:40 PM

    @Mr D: say that if the Boeing had decided to take a sudden dive to the ground over a city or town.

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    Mute Mr D
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    Nov 2nd 2017, 3:35 PM

    @Colm O’Sullivan: then send some fighter aircraft up to intercept them. Don’t scramble them or they’ll by useless…..

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