US airliner in emergency diversion to SNN

[Irishwingz]

Anyone know what was the nature of the security alert?

29/06/2004 - 7:33:27 PM

Transatlantic flight diverted to Shannon

A Delta Airlines Flight en route from Istanbul to Philadelphia has been diverted to Shannon Airport, following a security alert.

It follows an explosion inside a Turkish plane at Istanbul airport earlier today, in which three people were injured, just hours before US President George Bush was due to fly out of the same location.


The Delta airliner is expected to be able to continue its journey this evening, after a full security check of the plane and its passengers

[visibility3miles]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20040629-0636-turkey-nato-security.html

<<Demonstration outside NATO summit
By James C. Helicke
ASSOCIATED PRESS

6:36 a.m. June 29, 2004
ISTANBUL, Turkey – A small bomb exploded on an empty Turkish Airlines plane at Istanbul's airport Tuesday, hours before President Bush left a NATO summit here. Three workers cleaning the aircraft were injured, officials said.

The blast occurred after passengers had gotten off the Boeing 737 following its arrival from the Aegean port of Izmir, the airline said.

One of the workers lost fingers in the blast after picking up what looked like a wallet, and two others had minor injuries, the airline said.

A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said less than an ounce of plastic explosives were hidden in the wallet...>>

[Global Pilot]

Irishwingz
A/c resumed flight after security search if you don't already know that. Must be hard keeping current on that B52 round these parts!

http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0629/shannon.html

[Voeni]

So does anyone knows why the Delta flight converte? Just because of the bomb in Istanbul? Or did they have some information that the DL flight could have been affected?

Sounds like a stupid US-precautionary measure, but I guess there must be more to this

[hobie]

how many flights out of Istanbul to the U.S. a day? ..... don't recall there being many .......

[Nightrider]

Voeni, the only stupid thing related to this event I can see is your statement here. If a company decides for precautionary measurements in the given circumstances I can only agree to this.

There are "stupid" measurements, I agree, but you should consider what it takes to follow such a decision and see the bill afterwards.

Surely others agree happily on the facts that no one hurt and one extra check is better than one lost aeroplane....

[AAflyer]

Delta from Istnabul to Philadelphia? DAL's INT'L hubs are ATL,CVG and JFK. PHL is a USAIR hub.

As for a needless divert, after what happened on 9/11 and all the Al Queda remarks of another upcoming hit one can not be to precautious.

I wonder if you had been in the cockpit, if you would have said the same thing.

AAflyer

[Voeni]

Njet Nightrider...

If there is not more which we do not know (and that is why I am askign and posting here!!) it is unnecessary panic! If no a/c would fly, no a/c would get lost. So we have to find a way to take security measures serious but still keep a regular and "normal" pattern of air traffic around the globe.

I think it is over the top to divert without any further information. Just imagine if all the U.S. aircrafts flying over the atlantic westbound that day would have diverted? Would that be reasonable? Of course, no a/c would get lost...

do you know what I mean?

[Avman]

I guess it was DL73 to JFK. I thought that since the TK flight was a domestic IZM-IST rotation there might have been connecting pax taking the DL flight. However, this could not be so as the TK arrived after the DL departed. So, just a precautionary measure by DL and, under the circumstances, a good one before starting the ETOPS atlantic crossing.

GOOD DECISION !