London - Police detained a pilot found with knives in his hand luggage as he was about to board a flight from London’s Heathrow airport to Hong Kong, reports said on Monday.
The unnamed pilot was arrested about an hour before he was scheduled to fly a Cathay Pacific Boeing 777 carrying some 250 passengers on Saturday night, the police said.
Flight CX254 departed on Sunday afternoon 16 hours late, arriving in Hong Kong early on Monday, Cathay Pacific said.
Police said the pilot, reportedly 61 years old, was detained “on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and possession of a knife blade/sharp pointed article in a public place.”
He was bailed to report to a police station next month pending a police investigation.
DPA