Wire reporting: (AFP, via The Local Italy)

The captain and co-pilot of an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome were allowed to leave France after questioning, following a Thursday diversion to a military airbase over a bomb threat that searches found to be false¹.

Aer Lingus flight EI402 landed at Évreux airbase in Normandy after the threat^1,2. The Irish Times reported the aircraft was escorted by military jets¹. Passengers were taken off the aircraft and their baggage was searched; no explosives were found¹.

Rémi Coutin, the public prosecutor for Évreux, told The Irish Times that an investigation began after he was informed the pilot had initially refused a request to land at the base¹. A prosecutor statement said two fighter jets were dispatched to compel the landing, and that the inquiry aims to establish whether a refusal occurred and whether it could constitute a criminal offence¹. Coutin said inquiries were still under way and that the pilots had been authorised to leave French territory after interviews on Thursday¹. The Évreux prosecutor said the captain is an Irish national and the co-pilot a British national¹. Investigators plan to examine the aircraft’s flight recorders¹.

In a Friday statement, Aer Lingus said the captain and crew of EI402 “acted impeccably and were thoroughly professional” throughout the security incident and that passenger safety remained the priority in challenging circumstances¹.

The Local Italy, carrying AFP, reported the same diversion as one of a series of bomb threats affecting flights that week². The Irish Times said inquiries continued after hoax bomb threats disrupted almost 30 flights across Europe on Thursday¹.