Thomson Airways plane with 189 tourists on board flying from London to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh in August passed within 300 meters from a missile that had to dodge before arriving, they said this Saturday British media.
The British Ministry of Transport confirmed to the Daily Mail that "the incident" occurred on August 23. A government spokesman however said in a statement that the incident was due to "some routine exercises of the Egyptian army."
"At the time of the facts investigated the incident and concluded that there was a specific attack, but most likely was due to some routine exercises of the Egyptian army in the region," said the spokesman.
British media said that the pilots had to maneuver shortly before arriving to dodge the bullet and land safely. Passengers were not informed of the incident.
According to a source quoted by the Daily Mail, "the first officer was in command at the time of the facts, but the pilot was in the cockpit and saw the rocket coming toward the plane."
"He ordered the plane turn to the left to dodge the bullet, which was about 1,000 feet (300 meters) away," added the source, unidentified.
The airline confirmed the incident, adding that the Ministry of Transport was then considered "safe" flights to Sharm el Sheikh.
"Thomson Airways can confirm that the crew of flight 476 TOM reported an incident on August 23," said a company spokesman.
"After landing in Sharm el Sheikh, an initial assessment was made, and the incident was reported immediately to the British Ministry of Transport," the spokesman added.
The ministry then made "a full investigation along with other experts from the British government," and it "concluded that there was no cause for concern and that it was safe to continue flights to Sharm el Sheikh," he added.
The Egyptian Sinai was the scene of the accident last Saturday of a Russian plane in which its 224 occupants died. Several sources close to the investigation support the hypothesis of an attack.
AFP