He could not say if the object was assembled before the flight, but the materials were not ones that would usually be on board the aircraft.
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The threat, which originated from U.S. intelligence, had an immediate impact at British airports where passengers were subjected to more stringent and rigorous security checks. Earlier Sunday, the post said security forces had foiled “a bombing attempt”.
In France, a state of emergency has been in effect since the November 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. The attacks were claimed by Islamic State militants.
Flight 463 is Air France’s third plane to be diverted in recent weeks.
Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery, who arrived in Mombasa, said police were questioning a number of passengers but did not say how many. He added he didn’t see the suspicious device but that other people did.
An Air France flight traveling from Mauritius to Paris made an emergency landing on Sunday in Kenya after a bomb, which was found to be fake, was discovered in the plane – the artifact was made of paper and a timer.
All onboard have been screened and since shuttled to nearby hotels, and the Mombasa airport has resumed flights.
The official said one of those being interrogated is the man who reported the package.
“But the personnel of Air France were just great, just wonderful”.
“Bomb experts from the Navy and DCI (Directorate of Criminal Investigations) have retrieved the device and are determining whether the components contained explosives”, Boinnet said.
In a news conference in Paris, Gagey congratulated the crew for their cool-headed reaction to divert the plane.
The plane remains at Mombasa airport.
The Boeing 777 was carrying 473 passengers and crew.
On September 19, 1989, UTA Flight 772 was downed over Niger by a bomb, killing all 156 passengers and 15 crew members.
The pilot made a request for an emergency landing at the Moi International Airport at 12:37 a.m. (GMT +4).
A French police source said initial investigations had failed to establish if there was a bomb on board.
Gagey said a plane was being sent to bring the passengers back to France. “This Mombasa – Paris flight is scheduled to leave in the late afternoon of Sunday, December 20”, it said. “It sows doubt, it disrupts our operations, it inconveniences passengers, and obviously each time we can get information about those who are responsible for these extremely bad jokes, pardon the expression, we file a legal complaint”, Gagey said. “So they keep everybody calm and really quiet”. “We did not know what was happening”.
A passenger, Benoit Lucchini of Paris, spoke to reporters after disembarking the plane in Mombasa.
The suspected device was removed from the plane and is now being investigated by experts.
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John Stephen, a passenger on the plane, told Agence France-Presse that passengers were evacuated using emergency slides.
