A Vistara Airlines flight from Mumbai to Frankfurt was forced to make an emergency landing in Erzurum, a city in eastern Turkey, on Friday after a bomb threat was reported. The threat, which turned out to be false, stemmed from a note found in a lavatory on the aircraft that stated “bomb on board.”
This discovery prompted swift action by Turkish authorities. Bomb disposal teams were dispatched to the plane, and all 234 passengers and 13 crew members were evacuated as a precautionary measure. A Vistara spokesperson confirmed that flight UK27 had diverted due to a “security concern.”
The flight landed in Erzurum at 4:30 pm local time (1330 GMT). A thorough search of the aircraft was conducted, and after concluding their investigation, officials confirmed the threat was unfounded. Erzurum governor Mustafa Ciftci addressed reporters at the airport, stating, “As of 23:30, we have completed all search and examination operations. As a result of the work we carried out, we found that the bomb threat was unfounded.”
As a precautionary measure, airport landings and take-offs were temporarily halted during the inspection process. However, Ciftci reassured the public that all flights could resume operations, stating, “All flights coming or leaving from our province will now be able to fly comfortably.”
Vistara Airlines took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to inform the public that security agencies had cleared the passengers, crew, and aircraft. They also confirmed that necessary checks had been conducted and that a replacement aircraft was dispatched to Turkey on Saturday morning to transport the passengers to Frankfurt.
