An Air France flight was diverted to Kenya on Sunday after a suspect-looking item was discovered onboard.
The plane was headed toward Paris, but landed in Mombasa, Kenya, around midnight Sunday after crew members found a package that they believed to be a bomb, the Wall Street Journal reports. When the plane landed in Kenya, local authorities proceeded to investigate “passengers of concern,” and have since confirmed that the package was not an explosive. Authorities say it was a false alarm.
The flight was carrying 459 passengers and 14 crew members. This false alarm follows a plane crash in Egypt in October, which Russia had blamed on a bomb though Egyptian investigators found no evidence of terrorism, and a series of shootings in Paris the following month. It appears as if everyone is on edge after those tragedies as airlines up their security and customers travel less.
Air France said earlier this month that it had lost over $50 million worth of business since the Paris shootings, and other airlines have confirmed losing sales after the attacks and the Russian airliner crash.
A spokesperson for Air France told the Journal that authorities continue to investigate the package, which contained a clock, adding that it was likely left by a passenger.