A plane departing from Helsinki and heading to Rome was escorted to Fiumicino by Air Force jets. In two other cases the flights were landed in other airports after receiving the alert. After checks by the bomb squad, all cases turned out to be false.
A series of bomb scares affected several planes flying over European skies. There were 25 cases reported on November 5, with several planes flying to and from Italy. The reports of bombs on board, none of which have so far proven to be true, mainly concerned low-cost airlines and flights to or from Italy, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and other European countries.
Among the first cases, that of a plane that left Helsinki and headed for Rome: it landed at Fiumicino, escorted by Air Force jets. In other cases, after receiving the alert, the flights were landed in airports other than those expected: an Air Lingus Airbus A320 flying from Dublin to Rome, for example, landed in the French airport of Évreux escorted by French fighters, while an Airbus A321 of the Wizz Air company coming from Malpensa and headed for Warsaw was landed in Vienna. The reports also concerned other flights: the checks did not reveal any threats.
In recent days, around ten bomb alerts arrived via email, which later turned out to be false, had affected flights on some European routes. This time too, the presence of bombs on board the planes was reported via emails, some written in Italian. In particular, the email received from Malpensa was apparently signed by the "Fighters of the Male State". The investigations are ongoing and coordination at European level behind the false alarms cannot be ruled out.
A new wave of false bomb alerts has caused chaos in European skies: airliners diverted to other airports, military fighters from multiple countries in action, fear and above all inconvenience for passengers. About twenty planes were affected, of which at least seven departing or arriving in Italy. A script that repeats itself for the second time in two days. In our country the alert concerned two direct flights to Rome and four to or from Milan Malpensa: it was triggered in the early hours of the morning when an email was received with a generic "threat report" as the subject. The message in Italian was signed 'Fighters of the Male State', a name that refers to the Russian ultranationalist and misogynistic movement 'Muzhskoye Gosudarstvo'.
"We are in a moment of international tension, I hope that an agreement for a ceasefire can also be reached between Russia and Ukraine and that Putin and Zelensky find a solution that is not the surrender of Ukraine. Now, while waiting for a possible ceasefire there is greater tension: there is a hybrid war that we have been talking about for some time." Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said this to Dritto e Rovescio, speaking about the wave of bomb scares on European flights. "I believe that the Russians will never carry out a military attack on Europe because they know they would lose, but pro-Russian hackers can create chaos and damage to the economy, as we have seen in supermarkets. I want to reassure citizens: we have adopted numerous countermeasures."
"We are ready. We know how to protect our fellow citizens," said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, responding to a question about bomb alerts on planes.
The hypothesis is that there is coordination at European level on the alarms and for this reason international cooperation channels have been activated to identify the servers from which the emails announcing the bombs passed and the IP addresses to trace who sent them. Europol also says it is ready to support the national authorities, upon request.
However, the succession of reports risks putting the European air transport system under pressure. "The deviations made necessary by bomb threats represent a disruption to a system designed to be predictable and efficient and lead to an increase in the workload for pilots, air traffic controllers and airports," an EASA spokesperson explained to ANSA. The immediate safety risk to individual flights affected by false alarms remains low, thanks to staff preparedness, he added, but "the increased number of hijackings places additional pressure on the system."
Meanwhile, the European Union remains on alert about the new wave of bomb scares that have hit continental air traffic. "Any threat against civilians is unacceptable and the safety of citizens remains a priority," warned the European Transport Commissioner, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, asking national authorities to collaborate with airport managers, airlines and law enforcement. Brussels has activated the European aviation safety information sharing mechanism. The Commission "continues to monitor the situation closely" and is in contact with the Member States concerned and with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). However, the Greek commissioner also called for caution regarding the origin of the reports: "We do not yet have information that allows us to establish whether it is a cyber attack," he said. What made the situation particularly delicate was the geographical spread of the threats, often arriving via anonymous emails.
Here is the definitive list of the 25 flights affected by bomb threats today:
Aer Lingus flight EI-DEH from Dublin to Rome, diverted to Évreux, France (9:55, 10:07, 10:25).
Ryanair flight FR6410 from Madrid to Sofia (10:45).
Ryanair flight FR3606 from Copenhagen to Sofia (10:45).
Ryanair flight FR1730 from London Stansted to Sofia, diverted to Plovdiv, Bulgaria (10.45am).
LOT Polish Airlines flight LO235 from Warsaw to Brussels (10:48).
Wizz Air flight W46387 from Milan Malpensa to Warsaw-Okęcie, diverted to Vienna, Austria (10:52).
Finnair flight AY1761 from Helsinki to Rome Fiumicino (10:52).
Finnair flight AY1471 from Helsinki to Vienna (11:06).
easyJet flight U23179 from Glasgow to Prague (11:16, 17:00).
easyJet flight U25629 from Newcastle to Prague (11:16, 17:00).
Ryanair flight FR7326 from Dublin to Prague (11:16, 17:00).
Sky Express flight GQ750 from Athens to Prague (11:16, 17:00).
Wizz Air flight W43064 from Milan Malpensa to Bucharest (11:50).
Aegean Airlines flight A3552 from Thessaloniki to Milan Malpensa (12:17).
Ryanair flight FR8953 from Porto to Milan Malpensa (12:17).
Air Europa flight UX1027 from Madrid to Paris (1.37pm, 4.15pm).
Air Serbia flight JU102 from Belgrade to Bucharest (15:25, 15:54).
Iberia flight IBE668 from Milan to Madrid (15:33).
Iberia flight IBE658 from Rome to Madrid (15:33).
Aegean Airlines flight A3860 from Athens to Vienna (16:38).
LOT Polish Airlines flight LO331 from Warsaw to Paris (17:54).
Ryanair flight FR901 from London Stansted to Cork (18:06).
Two unidentified planes inspected at Copenhagen Airport (6.16pm).
Ryanair flight FR5015 from Pescara to Brussels-Charleroi (18:36).
Italian fighters are technically capable of taking off in less than ten minutes to deal with an emergency: to intercept planes or escort them, as in the case of the flight arriving in Rome from Helsinki and for which a bomb threat had been reported. In this case the two Eurofighters of the fourth Wing of the Air Force took off from Grosseto, where there is one of the five bases designated for this function, such as those in Istrana (Treviso), Gioia del Colle (Bari), Trapani and Amendola (Foggia).
An Irish passenger today recounted what happened on the Aer Lingus flight traveling between Dublin and Rome - with Italian citizens also on board - who was involved with others in the wave of false bomb scares in the skies of Europe in recent hours. Before landing at the military base in Normandy, the commander justified the deviation with a generic "technical problem". Except to evoke a "safety" issue after the plane had touched the ground. Once on the tarmac of the Évreux-Fauville military base, the French authorities then forced all passengers and crew to remain on board "for more than two hours", as reported by the BBC, before letting them off and sending them on to the bus transfer to Paris.
The passengers of the Dublin-Rome flight, which was diverted to France this morning after a bomb scare, are traveling by coach to Paris. One of the passengers made this known to ANSA, adding that when they arrive in Paris they will be notified of the boarding time on the plane that will take them back to Italy. During the day, at a military base, passengers were provided with assistance and refreshments. Some were also able to speak to a psychologist.
"We are worried by the bomb alerts, as many as 25, which are involving Italian and European planes. We reiterate the need for great caution and, above all, for the government to come and inform Parliament of what is really happening and what type of countermeasures are being adopted to prevent the reported and fortunately never found bombs from causing an air disaster". This was declared in a note by Valentina Ghio, vice president of the PD Group in the Chamber and Anthony Barbagallo, group leader in the Transport Commission, announcing a question to ministers Salvini and Piantedosi.
"A planned hybrid war activity is underway to create psychological tension in our societies and put stress on our infrastructures. It is clear that the alarms, for which we asked for efforts, strategy and a specific structure, are being confirmed. We need a leap in quality of democratic institutions both at national and European level". Senator Enrico Borghi, vice-president of Italia Viva and member of Copasir, tells Agorà Extra on Rai Tre, connected from Dublin where he is participating in the Interparliamentary Conference on common foreign, security and defense policy.
Intensified checks at Fiumicino airport. Also in action are bomb disposal dogs, dog units specialized in identifying explosive material, weapons or devices, generally used in high-risk contexts.
"There are numerous strategic systems that depend on computer networks and which could be exposed to attacks, with potentially very serious consequences for the safety of citizens. Simply saying that this is the new reality with which we must get used to living is too reductive an answer. If the minister "Crosetto" has long denounced the existence of a destabilization strategy and a sub-threshold war, then he must also explain which tools the government machine is concretely putting in place to prevent and counter these threats, protect strategic infrastructures and guarantee the continuity of essential services". The request comes from Stefano Graziano, group leader of the Democratic Party in the Chamber's Defense Commission.
On the false bomb scares that are affecting European flights "there are few cases, I don't think there is a trend in this sense" and among passengers "we don't perceive any fear, any concern". This was stated by the CEO of Ita Airways, Joerg Eberhart. For Eberhart "all safety systems are in place" and "with the experience of 50-60 years with these phenomena" there is, in his opinion, "no high risk".
"The airport remains fully operational", explains the vice prefect of Varese, Niccolò Cescon, speaking of the Malpensa airport named after Silvio Berlusconi, involved this morning in the false bomb alarms with two planes which triggered the security protocols. Cescon explained that the threat was taken "with the utmost seriousness, also in light of the general picture", despite believing from the beginning that it was false news.
A Ryanair flight coming from Pescara and heading to Charleroi airport, Belgium, was also affected by a false bomb threat in the early afternoon today. This was announced by the airport press office. The alert procedure was triggered after the discovery of the word "bomb" in the plane's toilets, at 1.13pm. The airport explained that the passengers were progressively disembarked and each was subjected to complete checks, in the presence of explosive-sniffing dogs. All luggage also inspected. The checks ruled out any dangers.
"All the flights affected" by the bomb scares (so far proven to be unfounded) in the last few hours in Europe and passed through Austrian airspace "were
