Jet terrorist scares on rise

Terrorist alerts on passenger jets have led to RAF fighters being scrambled more than a dozen times in the past 18 months, amid increasing intelligence reports of Islamist groups focusing on hijacking airliners.

Two of the incidents were this month, with warplanes shadowing transatlantic flights.

Scrambled British fighters have a variety of options, including shooting down the airliners, if they are deemed to be an immediate threat.