Plane Diverted+Bomb Scare+Germany

[Granite Monolith]

Just flashed up on Sky News..


A plane has made an emergency landing in Munich after a bomb scare.

The Athens to Strasbourg flight touched down after the threat was reported.

It landed at 10:45am local time at a special area of the airport set aside for emergencies.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1262027,00.html

[Farrell]

Passenger Giorgos Kassimatis said: "We have landed and everything is fine."


There's a breath of fresh air, rather than the usual
"I clung to my seat as the gates of hell closed behind us."

[CaptainProp]

From CNN -

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/04/2/germany.alert.ap/index.html

"BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- An Olympic Airlines flight en route from Greece to France made an emergency landing in Munich, Germany, on Monday after a bomb threat was reported, German air traffic control officials said.

The plane -- en route from Athens, Greece, to Strasbourg, France, landed at 10:45 a.m. at a special area of the airport set aside for emergencies, spokeswoman Anja Tomic said.

Munich airport spokesman Peter Pruemm said that the plane belonged to Greece's Olympic Airlines and that "the pilot apparently said there was a bomb threat." He said the plane had 137 people on board.

Greek police said they received a bomb threat, but that the flight number identified by the person or people making the threat did not exist. The plane that landed in Munich had the closest flight number.

"We have informed our consular authorities in Munich, which ... sent staff to the airport and are cooperating with German authorities," Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos told state-run NET television.

"I hope it was a hoax, but we are looking into the issue and we hope to have it cleared up soon," he said.

Giorgos Kassimatis, a passenger on the plane, told NET that "we have landed and everything is fine. There was a bomb threat so that's why we landed in Munich."

/CP

[anotherthing]

Daysleeper

If an A/C is hijacked or believed to be, surely it is prudent to scramble fighters to try to force the A/C to go to a suitable airfield (and not overfly highly populated areas in the process)?

In this instance, it sounds as though it was an unspecified bomb threat, so a fighter escort was probably not deemed appropriate.

So although I would strongly advocate a fighter escort if the situation warranted it (and if I was a pax, I would maybe be terrified, but I would understand the reasoning), I think it is refreshing in this instance that it seems as though a common sense approach has been taken. :ok:

[PaperTiger]

Greek police said they received a bomb threat, but that the flight number identified by the person or people making the threat did not exist. The plane that landed in Munich had the closest flight number.:rolleyes: :*