A Vistara flight that took off from India's Mumbai heading to Germany's Frankfurt was diverted to Erzurum airport in Türkiye due to a bomb threat, which later turned out to be a hoax, the governor of the eastern Turkish province said Friday.
There were 247 people onboard flight no UK27, which landed in Erzurum, Governor Mustafa Çiftçi said.
Security forces, including police and gendarmerie squads, as well as emergency response teams from Türkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) were immediately dispatched to the airport.
Passengers were safely evacuated from the plane as bomb disposal teams examined it, which was cordoned off as part of precautionary measures. All air traffic was also suspended at the airport, reports said.
Governor Çiftçi told a news conference that flight attendants found a note in one of the washrooms, written on a piece of napkin saying that there was a bomb on the plane. The flight attendants then informed the pilots, who requested to land at Ordu airport but could not do so due to ongoing construction works. They were then instructed to divert to Erzurum airport.
All luggage and belongings were unloaded and went through X-Ray and were searched by sniffer dogs, Çiftçi said, adding that they finished all searches and examinations as of 11:30 p.m. local time. Air traffic also returned to normal after clarification, he added.
