Britain today scrambled its fighter jets to escort a Pakistan International Airlines flight bound for Manchester following a mid-air "security alert".
Fighter jets have escorted the PIA aircraft from Manchester Airport to Stansted Airport, Sky News reported.u00a0
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There are understood to be 297 passengers on board. The plane was heading west towards Manchester when it was suddenly re-routed near York and headed back out to the North Sea, before travelling south to Stansted.
An Essex Police spokeswoman said: "An incident has occurred on an aircraft. Police and partners are responding."
RAF Typhoon jets have been launched to investigate the incident involving a civilian aircraft within UK airspace, BBC quoted the Ministry of Defence as saying.
Media reports said the issue was a "security" incident. The reports said two RAF fighters were deployed alongside the Boeing 777 to intercept the plane travelling from Lahore to Manchester.
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