Vistara flight makes emergency landing in Turkey after bomb threat

Mumbai: A Mumbai to Frankfurt flight operated by Vistara Airlines (UK 27) with 234 passengers and 13 crew members including two pilots on board made an emergency landing on Friday in the Turkish city of Erzurum. This was after a crew member found a chit inside the toilet saying there was a bomb on the flight.

“As per protocol, the relevant authorities were immediately alerted and we are fully cooperating with the security agencies to complete the mandatory security checks. The safety and security of our customers, crew, and aircraft remain our highest priority at Vistara,” the spokesperson said.

The Dreamliner 787-9 aircraft had taken off from Mumbai at 1.02pm. All passengers were evacuated and served refreshments after it landed at Erzurum at 7.05pm, said sources. The Erzurum airspace was also closed to flights, Erzurum governor Musrafa Ciftci told the state-run Anadolu news agency, adding that bomb disposal experts were investigating the plane. The aircraft would take off after the completion of all security checks, the sources added.

Earlier, on June 28, a Vistara flight (UK 552) from Thiruvananthapuram to Mumbai received a similar bomb threat, written on a tissue paper found inside the toilet, but a thorough search of the aircraft revealed that it was a hoax.

On June 2, another Vistara flight (UK 024) operating on the Paris-Mumbai route received a bomb threat, after which a full emergency was declared at the Mumbai airport. This too was found to be a hoax.