Swiss fighter jets intercept El Al Israel Airlines plane after bomb threat

El Al Israel Airlines flight LY2 is still following the flight path and will land at tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport shortly.

Representational Image

London: In a mid-air scare that sent global security agencies into a tizzy, an anonymous bomb threat was received for El Al Israel Airlines flight LY2 from New York's JFK Airport to Ben Gurion airport when it was flying over German and Swiss airspace.

Within minutes, two Swiss F-18 jets flew out from Swiss airbases to intercept the Boeing 747-400 aircraft. In their bid to reach the aircraft, the fighter jets broke the sound barrier, causing two thunderous supersonic booms over the northern Swiss canton of Schaffhausen at around 8:30 am.

However, the flight is continuing on its journey towards Israel with the Swiss jets as escorts and is currently overflying the Mediterranean sea. It is scheduled to land in Tel Aviv shortly.

More details are awaited.