Pictured: Two men who 'tried to get in cockpit during flight from Pakistan to Britain' as they are searched on the tarmac at Stansted

Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane diverted to Stansted

MoD say Typhoon jet launched to 'investigate an incident'



Understood incident happened 10 minutes before it was due to land

One passenger allegedly threatened to 'blow up the plane' as an argument escalated out of control



Two British nationals arrested on suspicion of 'endangerment of an aircraft'

Police have said the incident is being treated as a criminal offence



RAF warplanes were scrambled to intercept an incoming flight from Pakistan yesterday amid fears of a possible hijacking.



Two Typhoon fighter jets raced through the skies to meet the Pakistan International Airlines plane following reports two men ‘tried to get into the cockpit’.



After the captain activated an emergency signal, they escorted the airliner as it was diverted from Manchester, where it had been ten minutes from landing, to Stansted airport in Essex.



Scroll down for video



Held: One of the acquitted men is patted down by forensic police after the plane was brought into Stansted by the RAF

Police appear to search one of the suspects by the side of the plane at Stansted

The man also appears to be putting on a forensic suit at the scene

The incident is not thought to be terrorism-related, but in this week’s febrile atmosphere following the Woolwich atrocity the authorities were taking no chances.



Armed officers from Essex Police boarded the Boeing 777 and arrested two British men, aged 30 and 41, on suspicion of ‘endangerment of an aircraft’.



PIA Flight PK709 was carrying 297 passengers and 11 crew on the 13-hour flight from Lahore in Pakistan to Manchester.



Passenger Umari Nauman said: ‘The cabin crew informed us that basically they tried to come into the cockpit a few times and because they had been asked not to do that they got into a bit of an argument with the crew and made a few threats.’



Captain Nadeem Sufi reported to his bosses at PIA’s headquarters in Pakistan that, 30 minutes before landing, crew members told him that two passengers had threatened ‘to blow up the flight after a heated conversation’.



The captain reportedly said: ‘As soon as crew told me, I raised the alarm to air traffic control.’ He sent out what is known as a ‘squawk 7700’ – an emergency code transmitted by a radio transponder signalling the aircraft is in peril.



The Pakistan International Airlines plane that was escorted into Stansted by two RAF Typhoon jets last week

The Typhoons were immediately scrambled from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, as a precaution.

Passenger Noman Rizvi said later: ‘We did not notice anything extraordinary until we saw a jet fighter outside the window.



‘The pilot announced we were diverting towards London due to bad weather. When the flight landed, the pilot told us we were under threat and that is why we had been escorted by the Royal Air Force.’



For more than three decades, Stansted has been the designated airport for hijacks and major security incidents, with a remote area known as Compass Base set aside far from the main terminal.



As soon as the plane landed armed police swarmed aboard and removed two men. They were named by PIA officials as Umera Ashraf and Mohammad Shafqat, British citizens of Pakistani origin who had been occupying economy class seats 61J and 61H.



The remaining passengers were told to leave their belongings and were escorted from the plane. They were taken to a holding area while police and forensic experts checked the aircraft.



Superintendent Darrin Tomkins, of Essex Police, said: ‘In accordance with standard protocols, the plane was diverted to Stansted airport and military aircraft escorted it until it landed. The plane touched down at 2.15pm and once it had been directed to a safe location, armed police officers entered the aircraft and arrested two suspects on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft.’



He said the suspects were taken to a police station for questioning, and the rest of the passengers taken to the terminal building ‘for debriefing’.



In the sky: The PIA plane as it was being escorted by a RAF jet over Britain into Stansted in May Path: The flight from Lahore to Manchester was diverted to Stansted following the 'incident' 10 minutes before it was due to land This image shows how the plane was moved away from the passenger terminals after it landed at Stansted

He added: ‘At this point in time no suspicious items have been recovered. This incident is being treated as a criminal offence and remains under the direction of Essex Police.’

In Pakistan it was suggested there had been some sort of misunderstanding on board, in which two passengers had gone to the aid of another passenger who had become ‘unwell’. A source claimed:

‘There was an announcement asking if there was a doctor on board, but when the two men rushed forward, there were heated words with the crew, who reported the exchange to the pilot.’

Amid the confused picture of what had happened on board, another version of events emerged last night. A Pakistani journalist, Murtaza Ali Shah, who has spoken to a friend on board the plane, Fakhir Iqbal, said: ‘Two guys started a row with a girl and lots of other people. Some people tried to calm them and asked them not to be rowdy and abusive. Fakhir told them to calm down. They said, “Don’t bloody speak to us or we will blow up the plane”.

‘The crew came and spoke to them and they were openly threatening the staff. Fakhir went to other crew members and told them they were making threats.’

Scare: Police meet passengers as they are led from the plane after it landed in an emergency at Stansted Airport, in a case that was dropped today Police have confirmed they are treating the incident as a criminal offence

A spokesman for Stansted said passengers would be held until police had finished interviewing them, and ‘at some point police and the airline will arrange for their onward transportation to Manchester’.



Procedures for intercepting suspicious aircraft were brought in following the 9/11 outrage. The Ministry of Defence said Typhoon jets were routinely scrambled after a pilot or crew of a passenger aircraft sent out an emergency signal.



‘The purpose of going up is to investigate what the situation is,’ said a spokesman.



‘Often when a Quick Reaction Alert aircraft is launched, the details are not known, but it is known that a signal has been sent. Part of the purpose of sending a Typhoon up is to have a look and see what they can see.’



The spokesman said a total of 25 Quick Reaction Alerts had been launched last year alone. And in September 2011, the very same plane on the very same flight from Lahore to Manchester had been diverted to Stansted because of a bomb scare.



The fact the aircraft is Pakistani will have heightened the sense of alarm because that country has recently suffered a string of terror attacks after the presidential elections.

Police make a prominent appearance at Stansted Airport following the incident

There was a large police presence at the airport after the plane, originally bound for Manchester, landed

Officers boarded the plane after it landed at Stansted and removed two men

Family and friends of passengers of the plane which was diverted to Stansted wait at Manchester Airport to find out what has happened

People waiting at Manchester Airport speak to a PCSO after the PIA flight was diverted to Stansted