Paris; November 2026: The two pilots of an Aer Lingus plane that was forced to divert to a military base in Northern France due to a bomb threat on Thursday (05th November 2026) were held and questioned by French prosecutors over allegations that they initially refused to land the plane at the Evreux airfield when ordered to do so by air traffic controllers.
Aer Lingus service EI-402 from Dublin to Rome was one of 27 flights involved in a wave of bomb threats made across Europe against commercial airlines on 03rd November, and one of three flights that were forced to divert, all of the threats turned out to be hoaxes. The Airbus A320 departed Dublin Airport at around 06:40 hours on Thursday (05th November 2026), and flew over the Irish Sea, across the United Kingdom and then over the English Channel as it headed south towards Italy.
After entering French airspace, passing close to Paris, the pilots were then instructed to turn back and land at a military base in Evreux. It has since transpired that an emailed bomb threat had been made against the plane after it had already taken off.
Air traffic controllers have reportedly alleged that the two pilots: one an Irish national and the other British had initially refused to divert the plane. The aircraft ended up being intercepted by French fighter jets (which would be standard practice anyway), and the plane landed without further incident in Evreux.
Once on the ground, the aircraft was searched, and the pilots were taken away for questioning by a local prosecutor for the region. In the end, the passengers couldn’t continue their journey from Evreux and had to be bussed from the base.
In a statement, local public prosecutor Rémi Coutin said he had been “informed that the pilot of the aircraft had initially refused to comply with the French authorities’ request to land at Evreux, and that two fighter jets had to be dispatched to compel him to do so”.
Given the seriousness of the allegations, the flight and voice data recorder for the aircraft (the so-called Black Box) has been retrieved by investigators. Given that the voice data recorder would have picked up what was said between the pilots and air traffic control, this could quickly ascertain what exactly happened.
Both pilots were detained for a number of hours but have since been released and authorised to leave France while the investigation continues. Aer Lingus has been quick to rally around its pilots, saying in a statement that “the Captain and crew on Aer Lingus flight EI-402 acted impeccably and were thoroughly professional throughout yesterday’s security issue”.
The statement added: “Safety and the care of our passengers is Aer Lingus’ top priority, and this was upheld professionally by the captain and crew of the aircraft throughout in what were very challenging circumstances”.
Meanwhile, Captain Daniel Langan, who is the president of the IALPA pilots’ union, said it was “fully satisfied that the pilots discharged their legal and safety responsibilities to the fullest extent and acted professionally throughout”.
In what would appear to be a nod to the events that unfolded in Evreux, the British Air Line Pilots Association (BALPA) said that from the moment a credible threat is reported against an aircraft, “commander of the aircraft, the captain, is in command and will make all decisions, guided by the appropriate checklist for the safety of their aircraft”. The statement added that if the plane is in the air, “the priority will be to land the plane as soon and as safely as possible”.
Unfortunately, even more bomb threats were received on Friday (06th November 2026) further disrupting flights across Europe.
The identity or identities of whoever is making these threats has not yet been established, although Rome Fiumicino Airport received one threat from a group calling itself the Fighters of the Male State on Thursday. The email reportedly read: “You are all complicit in a criminal conspiracy. We want to destroy you for this. Your feminist regime will remember this forever. The explosion will occur in 60 minutes. Today your sky will be red”.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged law enforcement to “find the origins of these bomb threats” given just how disruptive they are becoming. As it stands, it seems as if authorities across Europe are no closer to tracking down who is responsible.
Team Maverick.
