Two F-16s scramble after bomb threat on Air China Cargo freighter with destination Liege Airport
Two F-16s of the Belgian Air Force scrambled on Tuesday evening after the request of the Dutch Air Combat Command. Shortly after taking off from Flore airbase, after flying supersonic, the fighter jets intercepted an Air China Cargo Boeing 777F (registered B-2097) above The Netherlands.
After the aircraft was searched by the authorities, it was concluded that there was no bomb on board. Don't know when this bomb threat was received by the airline, but the aircraft in question overflew quite a bit over northern western Europe, before landing at its destination Liege airport in Belgium. Wouldn't it have made more sense to let it land at Leeuwarden Airbase in the north and sort things out there? Of course it would have been more of a hassle for the airline if it turned out to be false, but on the other hand, it is more secure and much less disruption for the Liege airport.