Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Saturday, November 7, 2015

British Sharm el-Sheikh flight in 'missile' incident

by Selina O'Grady and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, London

21 minutes ago


A UK plane had to take evasive action over Egypt in an incident reportedly involving a missile in August.
The Daily Mail says a missile passed a Thomson Airways London to Sharm el-Sheikh flight carrying 189 passengers.
Egyptian officials say the reports are inaccurate and the plane was not at risk. A UK government probe concluded there had not been a "targeted attack".
Meanwhile Britons are continuing to fly home from Sharm el-Sheikh in the wake of last week's Russian plane crash.
The government said it expected about 3,000 people to have come back by the end of Saturday, after UK-bound planes were halted on Wednesday amid fears the passenger plane had been brought down by a bomb.
A spokesman said: "It is important that people stay at their resort until they have confirmation from their airline or tour operator that they are on a flight back to the UK and that they follow their airline's advice on the appropriate arrival time at the airport.
"Any British nationals requiring assistance, over and above that being provided by their airline and tour operators, can call the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 020 7008 0000."
Two flights to the UK from Egypt on Saturday have now departed, with more expected later.
A Thomas Cook flight left Sharm el-Sheikh shortly before 15:00 GMT with 220 passengers on board bound for Gatwick. A Thomson flight is expected at Bristol at 22:20 GMT.

'Full story'

The government has confirmed an investigation into the reported missile incident was carried out by the Department for Transport.
Aviation security experts told BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner it had involved artillery practice by the Egyptian army.
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According to the Daily Mail, the plane was forced to manoeuvre away from a rocket as it flew into Sharm el-Sheikh.
Thomson has confirmed "an event" was reported by the crew of flight TOM 476 on 23 August 2015 and was reported to the UK Department for Transport.
Russian MetroJet Airbus A321 at the site of the crash in Sinai, EgyptImage copyright EPA
Image caption Wreckage of Russian MetroJet Airbus A321 at the site of the crash in Sinai, Egypt
A spokesman said: "The DfT conducted a full investigation in conjunction with other UK government experts. After reviewing the details of the case, the investigation concluded that there was no cause for concern and it was safe to continue our flying programme to Sharm-el Sheikh."
Speaking on the BBC's Today programme aviation expert Alastair Rosenschein described the incident as "quite extraordinary".
He said: "I'm not sure that I buy the fact that it was a military exercise and that a missile passed to within a 1,000ft of an aircraft that was presumably on the correct flight path on the approach to land at Sharm el-Sheikh. It most certainly does not happen. I suspect that this is not the full story."
Egypt's foreign ministry said the allegations were "preposterous" and "completely inaccurate".
A spokesman said the incident involved ground-to-ground firing at a military base a few miles from Sharm-el Sheikh airport, and that no plane was in danger.
Passengers arriving back at LutonImage copyright AP
Image caption UK passengers who arrived on an EasyJet flight into Luton airport on Friday were handed bags of provisions, including bread and milk
An estimated 19,000 British nationals are thought to be stranded in the Egyptian resort after the the UK suspended all flights between the UK and Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday.
Flights restarted on Friday with increased security measures but only eight of the 29 scheduled flights were able to depart. The remaining 21 were cancelled by the Egyptian authorities because of the build up of passengers and luggage.
The UK's ambassador to Egypt, John Casson, told the BBC: "We have got good co-operation now which will allow us to get people home as soon as possible. Let us remember this has always been about making sure that when people go home they go home safely."
Britons are being allowed to travel home only with hand baggage; hold luggage is to be flown back separately.
EasyJet, Monarch, Thomson, Thomas Cook and British Airways have scheduled UK-bound flights from the resort from mid-afternoon local time on Saturday.
British nationals in Sharm el-Sheikh are encouraged to check with their airline or tour operator on their travel plans.
Scheduled flights for Saturday afternoon are:
Media captionPassengers arriving back in Glasgow on Friday night described chaotic scenes at the Egyptian airport
The Russian jet - an Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Metrojet - was flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg when it came down in Sinai last Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. Most of the victims were Russian.
French aviation officials have told the BBC the crash was not caused by technical failures, and other French officials said the flight data recorder suggested a "violent, sudden" explosion.
Are you due to return from Sharm el-Sheikh to the UK today? If you have any information to share with the BBC, you can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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