Passenger held on suspicion of plane bomb hoax

An airline passenger was being quizzed by police on suspicion of making a hoax bomb threat after Britain scrambled two fighter jets to escort a Qatar Airways plane into Manchester airport after the pilot reported a possible explosive device on board.

The incident, which prompted the authorities to close the busy airport for 25 minutes, briefly raised fears of a terrorism attack.

Qatar Airways said the Airbus A330-300 plane was flight QR23 from Doha to Manchester with 269 passengers and 13 crew on board.