ABU DHABI // An Etihad Airways flight bound for London's Heathrow Airport was diverted and escorted to nearby Stansted airport yesterday afternoon by fighter jets due to comments from a "disruptive" passenger.
"Etihad flight EY19 to London was diverted to Stansted in order to offload a disruptive guest on board," a spokesperson for the airline said.
Two RAF Typhoon jets were scrambled to accompany the aircraft before it landed at Stansted Airport, according to the Press Association news agency.
An Essex Police spokeswoman told the agency that a 37-year-old Briton was arrested after it touched down.
She said: "A 37-year-old man, a British national, has been arrested following an incident onboard an Etihad Airways plane travelling from Abu Dhabi to Heathrow.
"The pilot reported a passenger causing disruption and making threats. The plane was was diverted to Stansted Airport were it landed just before midday."
A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: "Typhoon aircraft were launched this morning to escort a passenger aircraft due to an incident on board. The aircraft landed safely at Stansted Airport."
An Etihad spokesperson said there was no direct threat to the safety of the plane, which took off from Abu Dhabi.
“This was a simple case of inappropriate comments made by a disruptive passenger – there was no threat to the safety of the aircraft or passengers.”
The plane from Abu Dhabi, landed at about mid-day UK time, a spokeswoman for Stansted Airport said.
*With agencies
vtodorova@thenational.ae
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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