Air France Bomb Scare That Forced Emergency Landing Was a Hoax

Flying over the Indian Ocean on Sunday, an Air France jetliner was forced to make an emergency landing in Kenya after a passenger noticed a suspicious device in the bathroom. Later, the CEO of Air France said the scare was a “false alarm.”

According to the New York Times, the passenger noticed the suspicious device—which, it turned out, was made of cardboard, sheets of paper, and a timer—as Air France Flight 463, Boeing 777 with 459 passengers and 14 crew members, was flying from Mauritius to Paris.

“This object did not contain explosives,” Air France CEO Frederic Gagey at a news conference in Paris, the Associated Press reports.

The passenger notified the crew, Kenyan officials said, who notified the captain, who made the emergency landing in Mombasa.

The AP reports that six passengers are being questioned.

Photo via AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.