Greater Manchester Police are investigating a hoax bomb threat made against a Qatar Airways Boeing 777, which led to an emergency response by Royal Air Force Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Typhoon FGR4s.
The police force confirmed on Jul. 25, 2026, that an investigation into a bomb threat made against a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 en route to Manchester Airport is being ‘assisted’ by a 14 year old boy.
Typhoon FGR4s, callsigns RIGID 11 and RIGID 12, were launched from RAF Coningsby shortly before 1800 UTC and directed south towards A7-BAJ, a Boeing 777-300ER flying as QTR52N between Doha and Manchester.
The jets escorted the airliner towards its destination, where it eventually landed safely and was greeted by a significant police presence.
Just landed at MAN pic.twitter.com/yei8CZlhls
— Emily Brobyn (@kippaxgirlemily) July 24, 2026
Alert fighter launches to aircraft relating to bomb threats have become a matter of standard procedure in the last few decades, with the initial goal usually being to gain direct eyes-on the aircraft and establish a greater awareness of the ongoing situation. In fact, a Qatar Airways aircraft was victim to a similar hoax in 2014 which also saw an armed Typhoon response.
QRA aircraft are armed as a rule, but use of force against a civilian airliner would be authorised only in extreme scenarios. For RAF Typhoons, the standard armament is a mixture of Meteor radar guided missiles and infrared guided Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missiles (ASRAAM).
#RAF Royal Air Force – 🚨 NATO Air Policing / Quick Reaction Alert (QRA)
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 2x#43C74C ZJ947 – RIGID 11#43C7AB ZK434 – RIGID 12
Boeing 777-300 1x#06A077 A7-BAJ – QATAR 52N
Two RAF Typhoons were scrambled from RAF Coningsby to intercept a Qatar Airways… pic.twitter.com/O1rsJLmpqn
— Armchair Admiral 🇬🇧 (@ArmchairAdml) July 24, 2026
Chief Inspector Gary Homa of Operations at Manchester Airport said: “This type of behaviour is completely unacceptable. The safety of the public is always our top priority and every report of this nature is treated extremely seriously.”
“Hoax calls can cause significant disruption, divert vital emergency service resources and create unnecessary concern for passengers, crew and the wider public. Thankfully, this incident concluded safely, but making false reports is not a prank and can have serious consequences. We will always investigate incidents of this kind thoroughly and take robust action where offences have been committed,” he added.
The police have yet to formally clarify whether they believe the 14 year old boy being questioned was the individual who made the hoax call or whether he is linked to it in some other way. He was not a passenger on the aircraft.
Pilots on board the Qatar flight apparently became aware of the intercept shortly before 1814 UTC, confirming in an ACARS message (picked up by Airframes.io contributors) to Qatar Airways operations:
BEING INTERCEPTED BY
UK MILITARY
GOT TCAS RA
AWAITING INST FROM ATC
The interception was seen and filmed from the ground, then posted on social media. In the footage you can clearly see the thick contrails of the airliner plus the two thin trails of the intercepting Typhoons.
@flightradar24 What is this? pic.twitter.com/Hfwueb81V3
— Leicester🦊 (@jxshlcfc) July 24, 2026
Most interceptions of airliners are somewhat routine and occur following the loss of communications between the aircraft and air traffic control, either due to equipment failure or incorrect frequency usage. This type of intercept is so common that when the Typhoons were seen to intercept a commercial airliner it was assumed by many observers that this is what had occurred.
Many thanks to Luke Tuffs for contributing his images of the Typhoons returning to Coningsby after the operation.
