A bomb threat prompted a Greek Olympic Airlines passenger plane to make an emergency landing, escorted by British Tornado jets, at London's Stansted Airport on Sunday.
An airlines spokeswoman said the pilot of the Airbus A340 travelling from Athens to New York was informed over France of a call to a Greek newspaper that a bomb was on board.
"There were 293 passengers on board and 12 crew, all of whom have been evacuated safely," Olympic spokeswoman Melina Pitta said.
"We do not yet know if it was a hoax call or not," she said.
A Greek civil aviation official told Reuters that British security forces had swept about 80 percent of the plane and had not found anything suspect.
"The caller appeared to give a specific point as to where the bomb was, and that's why they decided the plane had to land," said a spokesman for Stansted airport.
He said he did not know if the caller had used a codeword.
"We knew there was almost no chance for a bomb on board but we did everything and took all necessary measures to be on the safe side," Olympic airlines flights manager Konstantinos Vardakis told reporters. He said if the all clear is given, the plane would probably depart for New York later on Sunday.
Olympic Airlines Managing Director Odysseas Vlamis told reporters: "The passengers are mainly Greek. The incident is most likely a hoax but we were obliged to get the plane down safely.
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