Bomb alert UK flight lands in Italy

A British passenger plane requested an emergency landing today in Brindisi, southern Italy, because of a suspected bomb on board, the Italian air traffic agency said.

All passengers were made to disembark and were safe, state police at the airport added.

Salvatore De Paolis, a member of the border police at the airport, said authorities searching the plane had found a handwritten note in English that said there was a bomb on board. De Paolis said the search was continuing.

The plane, a Boeing 767 with Excel Airways, left from London’s Gatwick airport and had been bound for Hurghada, Egypt, the ENAV agency said. There were 280 passengers.

Italy’s Air Force said it sent an F-16 war jet to intercept the plane before it landed.