STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Pakistan International Airlines jet carrying 273 people bound from Canada for Pakistan landed Saturday at Stockholm's Arlanda airport because of a bomb threat on board, airport and police officials said.
The pilot decided to land the Boeing 777 after Canadian police received a tip that a passenger on board was carrying explosives, Stockholm police spokeswoman Sussie Illum said. The plane landed safely at Arlanda airport and was parked at the end of the landing strip as police prepared to remove the passenger.
"We are not evacuating the plane," Illum said. "We are going in to apprehend this person."
Bomb technicians were heading to the scene but police didn't see an immediate need to evacuate because the plane and the passengers had cleared security checks in Toronto, Illum said.
The plane was on its way from Toronto to Karachi, Pakistan, when the pilot requested permission to land in Stockholm, Arlanda airport spokesman Anders Bredfall said. The airport remained open to air traffic.
In Pakistan, a spokesman for state-run Pakistan International Airlines confirmed the incident involved flight PK782 to Karachi.
"The plane has landed at the Stockholm airport due to security reasons, airline spokesman Sultan Hassan said.
Calls to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada's public safety department were not immediately returned.
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Associated Press Writers Ashraf Khan in Karachi, Pakistan, and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
