Flight from India to Germany grounded over false bomb threat

A bomb threat forced a flight operated by Vistara Airlines to make an emergency landing in the city of Erzurum, Turkey on Friday, but the threat turned out to be false, according to the local governor.

The flight UK27 operated by India's Vistara Airlines was heading from the city of Mumbai to Frankfurt in Germany. It had 234 passengers and 13 crew on board.

Those on board were evacuated, said Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu.

Alert over message in lavatory

A piece of paper with the words "bomb on board" was found in the lavatory of the plane, prompting the crew to make an emergency landing. 

The flight landed at around 4:30 pm local time (1330 GMT).

"As of 23:30, we have completed all search and examination operations. As a result of the work we carried out, we found that the bomb threat was unfounded," Erzurum governor Mustafa Ciftci told reporters.

After receiving the alert, the authorities planned to land the plane at either Ordu or Trabzon cities in Turkey, but the flight was ultimately diverted to Erzurum due to air traffic, Turkey's TRT news reported.

Other flights landing and taking off from Erzurum airport had been stopped as a precaution. The halt was lifted after the threat was cleared.

Vistara also confirmed authorities had checked for threats and said it had arranged for an alternate flight with a fresh crew for the passengers stranded in Turkey.

tg/dj (dpa, Reuters)