LH diverts to Cyprus

[lexxity]

Just breaking on Sky news a LH flight has diverted to cyprus.
no more news at present.

[amanoffewwords]

According to Corriere della Sera (Italian newspaper) it was on the way to Tel Aviv and diverted due to a bomb alert/scare/warning.

amofw

[AlanM]

From the BBC..

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Israelis force down Lufthansa jet


Israeli jet fighters have forced an incoming Lufthansa airliner to land in Cyprus after a bomb alert that German officials had not considered serious.
"We wanted to fly to Tel Aviv but the Israeli authorities forced us to land in Larnaca," said a Lufthansa official.

The flight from Frankfurt landed safely and security staff are searching it.

Three passenger jets - two from Greece to New York and one British Airways flight from Berlin - have been diverted after bomb hoaxes in the last 10 days.

"We came to the conclusion with the German authorities that this alert was not serious," a spokeswoman told the AFP news agency.

The threat was transmitted by telephone call to the Lufthansa office in Frankfurt.

There were 331 passengers and 18 crew on board the Boeing 747-400 jet, the spokeswoman said.


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HERE (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3717246.stm)

[jettesen]

How bloody stupid is that! Not serious????? how can they be sure. Thats exactly what the terrorists are thinking - keep hoxing and they will ingore it. Then there will be a real bomb on board and bye bye 200 + people.

[Profit Max]

Isn't it already too late once the aircraft is airborne? If it made it to Cyprus without any bomb exploding, why would one explode in the remaining few minutes to Tel Aviv?

Has there ever been an instance where

(1) an armed bomb was on board; and
(2) somebody called in time for the aircraft to divert and land in time before the bomb was exploded?

In fact, why would terrorists want to warn us in time when they have an armed bomb on board?

I believe that no credence whatsoever should be given to these callers and concerned flights should continue as planned.

In addition, these hoax callers will hopefully be found and punished sufficiently by criminal law as well as having to pay damages under civil law.

[jettesen]

doesn't lockerbie ring any bells?????

I can't believe you are saying things like that. Of course. Why did the IRA always call about bombs before they exploded?????? get a grip m8

[Flypuppy]

I dont remember any telephone warnings before Pan Am 103 exploded.

[strake]

<How bloody stupid is that! Not serious????? how can they be sure.>

While no one can be 100% sure, I think you'll find there are dozens of "bomb" warnings every year to airlines most of which are (obviously) ignored.

[Profit Max]

Please point me to any evidence that terrorists made a call indicating that a bomb was on board of the Pan Am flight that crashed in Lockerbie. As far as I know only a very general warning was issued by the US government weeks in advance.

[phoenix son]

I think "ignored" underplays it a little...Every airline is required to have a Duty Threat Assessor whose job is exactly that - To assess the perceived risk for any bombthreat and to act accordingly...Not an easy call to make I'm sure you'll agree,

PHX

[Hampshire Hog]

Now as a humble PAX, I think I'd rather any such warnings were taken seriously - even if it means inconvenience. As has been noted in earlier discussions about this kind of thing, there may be a pattern of false warnings to reduce the level of response before a real incident.

[Avman]

Please note that the last 3 recent bomb threats have originated in Germany. It is also not the SOP of extreme terrorist groups to give warnings. They just do it! I think that some sicko in Germany is most probably responsible.

[Hampshire Hog]

Please note that the last 3 recent bomb threats have originated in Germany

And didn't some of the 9/11 group pass through Germany and/or use it as an operating base?

[Nearly Man]

Good point Pups .. jettesen, whats with all the ???????

[AndyPandy]

I am afraid that there is a great deal of lack of understanding appearing in this thread.

All airlines regularly receive threats and it is a fact of life that when a hoax causes disruption, along with the inevitable publicity, then the incidence of more hoax calls dramatically increases immediately afterwards. A sad fact of modern life.

There are systems in place to deal with the problem. To go into great detail would only be helpful to those intent on causing trouble

[B737NG]

If You are all that clever why do we have Terrorists at all ? They
should be captured by the "Experts" here from PPruNe..............
To evaluate and judge after any occurence have had happened
is allways easier then if you are faced with a situation and have
to make the only decission, the right one. Put yourself in that
shoes and then make a statement.
The safest way to handle Aviation against any threat is not to fly.
Does that makes it any better? You tell me please, I am allways
able to accept another opinion. Some of the eomotional loaded
postings are lacking that.

NG

[ThinkRate]

Just heard on the news that the Isreali jets forced the LH plane to LCLK, violating the Cypriot FIR and initially intercepting a Swiss Airlines jet by mistake in the process. Formal complaints have been launched at various Israeli Ambassadors.

If true, what a bunch of :mad: :mad: :mad: cowboys!:*

TR
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