A 14-year-old boy from Boston is assisting police with their inquiries following a hoax threat that prompted RAF Typhoon jets to escort a Qatar Airways flight heading to Manchester Airport on the evening of Friday, July 25.
This event occurred at around 6 p.m. on July 24 after the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) received a threatening phone call about a passenger plane flying from Doha to Manchester. The Ministry of Defence confirmed that the RAF Typhoons had been deployed from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, as part of the Quick Reaction Alert mission to intercept the plane.
The police coordinated with the RAF and other airport authorities for the safe landing of the flight and its passengers. While emergency services on the ground were on alert as a precautionary step, the flight landed successfully and taxied to the gate without any problem.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed: “There was no threat to passengers or crew.”
As a result of the investigation, it was found that the threat call was a hoax. The 14-year-old boy, who is not one of the passengers on that flight, was caught by the police. Gary Homa, the chief inspector of Operations at Manchester Airport, expressed his disapproval of the incident.
2026-07-26 01:00:00
