Israeli authorities are investigating how some passengers received photos of a plane crash almost simultaneously before a Tel Aviv-Istanbul flight was to take off on Tuesday. The incident forced a passenger plane operated by Turkey's AnadoluJet to return to the gate before takeoff, Israeli media outlets reported, due to security reasons.
The plane was to fly from Ben Gurion Airport to Sabiha Gökçen on Istanbul's Asian side, with 165 passengers onboard, when they reported to the cabin crew about the mysterious photos, Haaretz and other Israeli newspaper websites reported. All appear to be sent via AirDrop, a file transfer service available only on Apple iPhones, and hence, only iPhone owners aboard received the photos, which apparently showed a Turkish Airlines plane crashed in the Netherlands in 2009, while other photos show a 2013 San Francisco plane crash site. AnadoluJet is a budget carrier and a subsidiary of Turkish Airlines (THY).
AirDrop allows the wireless exchange of files if Apple devices are close together. The airport said several passengers were being questioned on suspicion that they had sent the images.
The plane was cleared to take off again Tuesday afternoon after passengers and baggage were rescreened and fully cleared by security, the airport said.
Turkey and Israel nowadays enjoy a thaw in their relations strained over a number of issues. Though transportation routes remained open between the two countries, the number of flights between the two countries was somewhat low. The THY had recently announced that flights between Turkey and Israel would be increased to 89 in the summer, the high season for tourism. Currently, the THY operates six flights between Ben Gurion and Istanbul Airport daily, while AnadoluJet runs two flights daily between Ben Gurion and Sabiha Gökçen.
