On a Thursday in early November, a wave of hoax bomb threats swept across the skies and airports of Europe, touching at least twenty-one flights and several terminals in eight countries. No explosives were found anywhere, yet the disruption was real: planes were diverted, jets rose to escort them, and travellers spent hours not knowing why. It is the second such wave in a single week, and the threats arrived in the name of a shadowy group with ties to an extremist movement, though whether the incidents share one hand remains an open question.
Hoax Bomb Threats Hit at Least 21 European Flights for Second Time in a Week
No injuries were reported, but passengers were held on board for about two and a half hours at a diverted flight and many travellers faced delays and rerouting.
"Turn the skies red" — an email, 21 flights, and no explosives found
Mark
Nothing was found on any plane. Why does this still matter?
Mimi
Because each threat forced a real response: fighter jets, diversions, searches. Emily Noble sat two and a half hours on a plane in Normandy while dogs searched it.
Mark
Who is behind it?
Luke
Nobody knows. The emails were signed "Fighters of the Male State," and that likely points to the Russian Muzhskoi Legion, but "likely" is the reporting's word, not a finding.
Mimi
And the email itself probably won't help investigators much, even if genuine.
Mark
Are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday connected?
Luke
Not established. One expert said three days is too small a sample to tell coordination from copycats.
Mark
What worries the experts most?
Mimi
Complacency. Philip Baum said enough hoaxes could mean a real threat is ignored, or that the hoaxes are a diversion.
Luke
That's a warning about risk, though, not evidence that either is happening.
Mark
So is the system overreacting?
Mimi
Marco Chan said it's right to treat each one as real, even if most likely a hoax.
Der Puls
- A single bomb threat turned a routine Dublin-to-Rome flight into an unplanned landing in Normandy, with fighter jets trailing the aircraft down.
- Across eight countries, planes were escorted by military jets and forced into diversions as airports searched for explosives that never appeared.
- Threats signed 'Fighters of the Male State' and phrased against a 'feminist regime' have airlines and governments asking who is behind them and why.
- Officials are treating every warning as potentially real while calling them malicious hoaxes, and investigators hunt for leads in an email unlikely to give them much.
- The pattern now spans two waves in one week, and the central question is whether the threats stop, multiply, or hide something more dangerous.
On a Thursday in early November, a wave of hoax bomb threats swept across the skies and airports of Europe, touching at least twenty-one flights and several terminals in eight countries. No explosives were found anywhere, yet the disruption was real: planes were diverted, jets rose to escort them, and travellers spent hours not knowing why. It is the second such wave in a single week, and the threats arrived in the name of a shadowy group with ties to an extremist movement, though whether the incidents share one hand remains an open question.
About an hour into an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome, passengers were told there was a technical problem. Emily Noble, a 26-year-old heading to a friend's wedding, then heard the pilot change the story as the plane circled toward an unplanned landing in France. It was a security issue. She heard fighter jets during the descent, and one came down behind her aircraft. Only after touching down at the Évreux-Fauville air base in Normandy did passengers learn there had been a bomb threat. They waited two and a half hours while police and military searched with sniffer dogs. Noble told BBC Verify it was an odd experience, worrying because no one knew what was happening, yet everyone tried to stay calm.
Hers was one of at least 21 aircraft targeted on Thursday, the second wave in a week. Flights bound for Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland and Romania were affected, along with several airports. No explosives were found. The UK Transport Secretary called the threats malicious hoaxes and said established processes exist for handling them.
Responses varied widely. Italian jets escorted a Finnair flight into Rome, while another Finnair flight landed in Vienna, both without incident. Ryanair flights were escorted by Bulgarian jets to Sofia and Plovdiv. Wizz Air and LOT diverted or halted flights, and Czech police cleared four Prague landings, including EasyJet services from Newcastle and Glasgow. Several other carriers and Madrid airport checked threats and ruled them out, and Heathrow judged its warning not credible.
Rome's airport authority said the threat against two inbound flights came by email signed "Fighters of the Male State," which claimed to target a "feminist regime" and promised to "turn the skies red." The name likely echoes a banned Russian ultra-right group. Experts are uneasy: one aviation security professor was surprised by the wave, since diversions normally follow only credible threats, and warned that repeated hoaxes could breed complacency or serve as cover. Another analyst said copycats are possible and that three days is too little to tell coordination from contagion. Earlier in the week, seven flights had been searched, and on Monday a Wizz Air flight was escorted by a Hungarian jet after a mid-air threat. What comes next depends on whether anyone is identified and whether the threats continue.
About an hour into an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome, passengers were told there was a technical problem. Emily Noble, a 26-year-old from Dublin on her way to a friend's wedding, then heard the pilot change the explanation as the plane circled for an unplanned landing in France: it was a security issue. She could hear fighter jets during the descent and saw one touch down behind her aircraft.
The plane landed at the Évreux-Fauville air base in Normandy, and only then did passengers learn it had been the subject of a bomb threat. They stayed on board for two and a half hours while police and military personnel searched with sniffer dogs. Noble described it to BBC Verify as an odd experience: worrying because nobody knew what was happening, but everyone tried to stay calm. Passengers were later told they would be taken to a Paris airport and flown on to Rome.
Hers was one of at least 21 aircraft targeted on Thursday, the second wave of such threats in a week. Flights bound for Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland and Romania were affected, along with several airports. No explosives were found in any of the searches. UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander called the incidents malicious hoax threats and said there were established processes for handling them.
The responses varied. Italian fighter jets escorted a Finnair flight from Helsinki into Rome's Fiumicino airport, while a second Finnair flight landed in Vienna; the airline said both landed as normal. Bulgarian media reported three Ryanair flights, from Copenhagen, Madrid and London, were escorted by Bulgarian fighter jets, two landing in Sofia and the London one in Plovdiv. Wizz Air said a Milan-Warsaw flight was diverted to Vienna and another from Milan landed safely in Bucharest. LOT stopped a Warsaw-Paris flight before take-off for screening, and a Warsaw-Brussels flight landed as planned. Czech police said four flights landing in Prague had no explosives; EasyJet's flights from Newcastle and Glasgow were among them, and passengers disembarked normally.
Aegean said threats against its Thessaloniki-Milan and Athens-Vienna flights were unfounded. Air Serbia's Belgrade-Bucharest flight was likewise assessed as unfounded. Spain's airport authority reported threats affecting three flights at Madrid, ruled out after inspections, and Iberia said two of its flights were affected. Italy's Ansa reported bomb disposal experts checked a Porto-Milan Ryanair flight on arrival. Heathrow and Birmingham airports also received threats; Heathrow said its was deemed not credible and posed no risk, and Birmingham said it started processes with emergency services.
Rome's airport authority, Aeroporti di Roma, said the threat against two inbound flights came by email, signed by "Fighters of the Male State." The message claimed to target a "feminist regime," said the writers wanted to "make our mark on history," and threatened to "turn the skies red." Italian media reported the details first. The name likely refers to the Russian group Muzhskoi Legion, or Male Legion, an ultra-right group banned by a Moscow court in 2021 that kept tens of thousands of online followers and cheered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Even if genuine, the email is unlikely to give investigators the leads they need, and it is not clear the incidents are related.
Experts see a different risk. Philip Baum, professor of aviation security at the University of Coventry, said the industry faces multiple bomb threats daily but he was surprised by this week's, since flights are diverted only when a threat is judged credible. He warned that repeated hoaxes could breed complacency, or serve as a diversion. Marco Chan of Kingston University said the threats were most likely hoaxes but the system is right to treat them as real, and that some experts see a pattern of cheap, deniable disruption. Copycats are possible, he said, and three days is too small a sample to separate coordination from contagion.
Earlier this week, seven European flights, two from the UK, were searched after threats, with nothing found. On Monday, a Wizz Air flight from Luton to Sofia was escorted by a Hungarian fighter jet to Budapest after a mid-air threat. What to watch now is whether anyone is identified and whether the threats keep coming.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
The threats were most likely a hoax, but the system is right to treat it as real.— Marco Chan, Kingston University
If you issue enough hoax threats, complacency could set in and a real threat could be ignored, or they could be a diversion.— Philip Baum, University of Coventry
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