Investigation on jet scare ongoing for links with asylum request in UK

The Police authority is probing if terrorism scare on a flight diverted to Scotland is a hoax after five Syrians on the jet have claimed asylum, local media reported on Monday. The inquiry was expected to examine whether the five deliberately sparked the alert to land at Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire, about 50 km southwest of Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland, the Scotsman newspaper reported on Monday. The Egyptair's aircraft, travelling between Egypt and the United States, was diverted to Prestwick on Saturday after a threatening note was found on board. The five asylum seekers, identified as Syrians by Egyptair Tawfeek Asi speaking from Cairo, remained in Glasgow after the plane was given permission to take off, and they were believed to have been taken to have their bids assessed, said the report. The investigations on a link between the terror alert and the asylum seekers were continuing and the Police Scotland said the five passengers are now being dealt with by the UK Border Agency, it added. Flight 985 was heading to New York from Cairo when British Broadcasting Corporation producer Nada Tawefik found the threatening note, which said "I'll set this plane on fire", scrawled on a napkin with seat number 46D written on it, in a toilet when attempting to change her baby. The note was passed to crew members and the plane was escorted to Glasgow Prestwick, which is designated to deal with emergency incidents, by Typhoon fighter jets from Royal Air Force Leuchars, said the report.