Bomb threat grounds plane in Sweden

A bomb threat forced a passenger aircraft on route from Stockholm to Nice (France) to turn around on Thursday morning, Swedish Television SVT News reported.

All 169 passengers on board were safely evacuated just after noon local time, after the plane returned to Stockholm's Arlanda airport. No injuries have been reported so far.

"The plane was flying over Vaxjo when the bomb threat occurred. However, I have no information on how the threat was conveyed. The plane then returned to Arlanda, where it landed at 11:14 a.m.," Daniel Lindblad of the Swedish Maritime Administration told SVT News.

According to the Administration's naval and aircraft rescue center, which is responsible for flight rescue, the alarm came to the center via air traffic control in Malmo. The alarm was received at 10:40 a.m. -- half an hour after the aircraft left Stockholm.

Police are on site at Arlanda to investigate. According to SVT News, Swedish border police, the National Task Force and the international bomb disposal task force are now in place.

Norwegian Airlines confirmed in a press release that the bomb threat was directed at one of their flights. "For safety reasons, the aircraft returned to Arlanda. Norwegian's main priority right now is the safety of our passengers and employees."

The nature and source of the bomb threat have not yet been reported.