Air France Bomb Scare: Former Police Officer Detained, Fake Explosive Found In Plane Bathroom

Paris Police detained two people who were aboard an Air France flight that was forced to make a rapid emergency landing in Kenya after a fake bomb was found in the plane's bathroom on board, the BBC reported Monday. One of those detained is reportedly a 58-year-old former police officer.

The man in custody was detained after he arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport Monday, according to an unnamed official in the prosecutor's office in the Paris suburb of Bobigny, the Associated Press reported. The official, who was not authorized to talk publicly about the investigation, did not release to the Associated Press the suspect's name or information about what he is suspected of. The BBC, citing Europe 1 radio, reported the man's wife was being questioned as a witness.

Air France had "filed a legal complaint against unknown persons for endangering the life of others," a company spokesman said, according to the Local.

A Kenyan police official previously said six passengers had been questioned Sunday, including the person who discovered the fake bomb and alerted the plane's crew members about the device. Air France said the device found aboard the Boeing 777 was made of cardboard and a kitchen timer and did not pose any real danger. The plane was on its way from Mauritius to Paris when the object was found in the toilet, forcing an emergency landing and evacuation at Mombasa airport in Kenya.

France has been on high alert since terrorist attacks Nov. 13 in Paris that killed 130 people and for which the Islamic State group took responsibility. The group also claimed responsibility for downing a plane carrying Russian tourists leaving Egypt in October. Sunday's events marked the fourth such hoax for Air France. Passengers described a harrowing experience as the plane made its unplanned landing in Kenya.

"We thought we were going to die. Because of the speed of the airplane going down, we thought we would crash in the sea," said passenger Marine Gorlier to the Associated Press.