New bomb scare diverts Greek jet

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 From the BBC   http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3698266.stm

A New York-bound Olympic Airways flight carrying 295 passengers has landed
in Ireland after a bomb alert.

An Athens newspaper received warning of a bomb on board, the airline said -
the second such incident in three days.

"There was a call to a local newspaper around 3.45pm (1245 GMT) saying a
bomb on the plane would explode in an hour," Olympic Airlines' Melina Pitta
said.

"Nothing has happened," she added. The plane made an emergency landing at
Shannon, the nearest airport.

Passengers were being evacuated and taken to a secure area for screening
before the plane is searched.

Jets scrambled

The BBC's Richard Galpin, in Athens, says Greek officials have said the
incident is an "absolute carbon copy" of an incident on Sunday.

Then, Olympic Airlines flight 411 landed at Stansted in the UK after a bomb
alert.

That plane was en route from Athens to New York when a Greek newspaper took
anonymous phone calls saying there was a bomb on board.

RAF jets were scrambled and escorted the plane, with 301 passengers and
crew, to Stansted, near London.

The aircraft resumed its flight to New York on Monday.

'Copy-cat fears'

The second aircraft, with a crew of 12, took off from Athens at 1013 GMT,
Ms Pitta said.

The airline spokesman said US authorities had refused permission for the
plane to land at New York's JFK airport.

Airline sources told the Greek news agency ANA that they believed the bomb
threat was a hoax, adding that passenger checks in Athens were rigorous.

David Learmount, operations and safety editor of Flight International
magazine, told the Press Association news agency: " What the worry is now
is that this could spark off copy-cat actions that could disrupt airline
services."

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