A Ryanair flight from Pescara, Italy, to Brussels South Charleroi Airport was briefly placed on alert on Thursday after staff found a bomb message on board, though later checks confirmed this to be a hoax.
The airport said staff found the message reading “bomb” in the aircraft lavatory shortly after 13:13. The pilot alerted air traffic control, which then informed the airport authorities.
Under standard procedures, they declared an alert phase and set up a crisis cell to bring together the relevant emergency and security services. Passengers remained on board while staff arranged to inspect all baggage and screen everyone on the flight. They were then disembarked gradually, and each underwent a full security check with sniffer dogs present.
Those checks confirmed that both the aircraft and the luggage were safe. On that basis, the crisis cell ended the alert.
The incident came as around 20 flights across Europe were targeted by false bomb alerts on Thursday. Earlier in the day, a flight from Warsaw landed at Brussels Airport after a suspicious report, but police inquiries found no need for additional security measures.
