A holiday jet was forced to make an emergency landing after crew discovered a note saying “bomb on plane” in the lavatory.
The message was scrawled on toilet paper on board Vistara Flight VTI027 from Mubai to Frankfurt.
The Boeing 787, carrying 237 passengers and 14 crew members, had to be diverted to Turkey and was grounded on Friday afternoon.
Bomb disposal teams rushed to the runway of Erzurum Airport to deal with the threat. The plane was safely evacuated.
Search dogs were seen going through the plane while the airport was closed to all departures and arrivals.
Tracking service Flightradar24 showed the aircraft squawked “7700”, signalling a general emergency.
An attendant is reported to have discovered the note in the loos prompting the alert.
Luggage was searched on board but the incident turned out to be a false alarm.
The identity of the individual who had left the note was not immediately known, Governor Mustafa Ciftci told reporters.
Initially following the discovery of the threat, the aircraft planned to land at an airport in Ordu, northern Turkey, but was rerouted due to construction work to the neighboring city of Trabzon before authorities redirected it to Erzurum.
#DiversionUpdate2: pic.twitter.com/1vSnjFLVlC
— Vistara (@airvistara) September 7, 2024
Erzurum was chosen because of the less congested air traffic there, Ciftci said.
In a statement, Vistara said: “All necessary checks have been conducted and the customers, along with the crew and aircraft, have been cleared by the security agencies.
“Since the crew have exceeded their duty time limitation, we sent an alternative aircraft with a fresh set of crew.
“All efforts were made to minimise inconvenience to customers, including offering them refreshments and meals
“We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to them due to this unforeseen situation.”
