Condor flight to Düsseldorf Bomb scare prompts unscheduled landing
CHANIA/DÜSSELDORF · An aircraft of the German airlines Condor had to make an unexpected stop on the island of Crete on Thursday due to a bomb threat. More than 270 passengers were on board.
A Condor airliner had to make an unscheduled landing on the Greek island of Crete on Thursday evening due to a bomb threat. The plane was on its way from the Egyptian city of Hurghada to Düsseldorf, when it made a safe landing in the city of Chania, said a Condor spokesman to the German Press Agency (dpa). The 273 passengers exited the plane without incident. They were expected to spend the night in local hotels and continue the flight to Düsseldorf on Friday.
"Condor is in contact with local authorities," the spokesman said. The aircraft was checked by special dogs after landing. First reports were that nothing suspicious had been found. Initially, the spokesman could give no information on the background of the bomb threat. The plane had departed Egypt at 5:34pm.
According to information from Greek media reports and the German “Bild” newspaper, a note with the word “bomb” had been discovered in the restroom of the aircraft. Citing security authorities, news portal “Protothema” reported that the flight was escorted by Greek fighter jets to the landing. “Bild” reported that the aircraft was surrounded by military and airport police after it landed. Information from civil aviation circles in Chania indicated that the inspection of the aircraft began late in the evening and was expected to last until the early morning hours.
(Orig. text: dpa; Translation: ck)
