Bomb threat forces US bound flight from India to land at Stansted airport

An Air India passenger plane was forced to make a "precautionary landing" at Stansted Airport after the airline initially reported a bomb threat.

Flight AI191 was flying from the Indian city of Mumbai to Newark in the US. The Ministry of Defence said RAF Typhoon fighter jets escorted the aircraft as it made its landing.

Air India confirmed an email came through to Mumbai airport with a bomb threat. The airline had initially tweeted about the scare, which has since been deleted, and later told Reuters news agency the threat turned out to be a hoax.   

A statement from Stansted Airport said the plane, which was carrying 327 passengers, landed at about 10:15 BST and was taken to an isolated part of the airport. The plane finally took off for Newark at 21:30 BST.