British fighter aircraft escorted a plane from Cairo bound for New York to an emergency landing in the U.K. after a passenger discovered a letter onboard threatening to blow up the aircraft, officials said Saturday.

 

Grounded plane in Glasgow, Scotland
Grounded plane in Glasgow, Scotland (Twitter)
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Flight 985, a Boeing 777 to John F. Kennedy Airport had around 300 passengers onboard when it was diverted to Glasgow's Prestwick Airport after a passenger found the letter in a lavatory, EgyptAir chairman Tawfiq Assi said.

A BBC New York producer on  board the flight told the Daily Mail she found the letter in a bathroom by the sink written on a napkin in pencil in a child-like handwriting.

When I went in to change my daughter about three hours into the flight, I found a note by the sink saying 'I'll set this plane on fire' with the seat number 46 D written on it.So I immediately went to the crew and told them about it."
Britain's Ministry of Defense confirmed that that fighter jets were scrambled to escort the plane to the Glasgow airport, but referred further questions to police in Glasgow.

Police in Glasgow confirmed that officers were responding to an incident but declined to provide further detail.

Assi said the flight is now being checked by a technical team that includes bomb disposal experts.

Passengers were let off to wait in Glasgow's airport, and officials are also looking into their backgrounds, he said, adding that the flight hopefully will resume its journey to New York following inspections.

Roads around the airport were closed and the plane remains on the tarmac.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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