Man charged with attempting to hijack plane to Britain

A 29-year-old man was today charged with attempting to hijack a plane to Britain after a handgun was found in his carry-on luggage as he prepared to board a flight from Sweden to Stansted airport, Essex.

The suspect, a Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin, was a member of a group of 20 people heading to an Islamic conference in Birmingham, according to police in Vaesteraas, 60 miles north-west of the capital, Stockholm.

Security officers found the weapon in a toiletries bag when they scanned the man's hand luggage, police spokesman Ulf Palm said. "We believe he was going to hijack the plane," Mr Palm said.

The man was booked on a flight from Vaesteraas to Stansted airport on a Ryanair flight.

Several passengers who had already boarded the plane were evacuated while police searched the cabin and luggage compartment. The plane took off just before midnight without the suspect or the others being questioned.

Police would not say what type of gun was involved or whether it was loaded. Ryanair said 189 passengers were booked on the flight.

A charge of planning to hijack a plane could carry a sentence of six months to life inprisonment.

The other members of the group the man was with — 18 adults and two children — were questioned for several hours at police headquarters but have been released and were not suspected of any crime, he said.