Italian police found and removed explosives aboard an Alitalia passenger plane at an airport in eastern Italy after receiving an anonymous tip-off.
The small package of explosives, which had been tucked under one of the seats, was destroyed in a controlled blast after it was found aboard the aircraft at Ancona airport on Thursday afternoon.
The 42-seater plane had been due to fly to the Italian capital Rome on a scheduled, domestic flight from Ancona at 3 p.m. and passengers had not yet boarded the plane when the alarm was raised.
An airport source said the device was believed to have contained some 200 grammes of explosives, which caused a large blast when detonated at a remote part of the airport.
Italian news agency ANSA said it was not clear who the caller was or why explosives had been planted on the jet.