ISTANBUL: Two Pakistan International Airline aircrafts were forced
to make emergency landings after the state carrier received bomb
threats aboard the two flights, media reported.
Turkish
Television on Wednesday reported that a suspected bomb threat had
forced the UK bound PK 709 to make an emergency landing at the Istanbul
airport. Its 378 passengers and crew were evacuated and the plane was
searched by the bomb squad. Turkish NTV had reported that the Boeing
777 belonging to the Pakistan state carrier, PIA, was flying from
Islamabad in Pakistan to Manchester in England.
The flight,
which had to make the unscheduled stop while flying through Bulgarian
airspace, was cleared by Turkish authorities and allowed to resume its
journey. Sniffer dogs were being used to scour the plane for
explosives.
According to a foreign news agency, a second PIA
plane with 164 passengers on board landed at Kuala Lumpur airport after
a bomb alert, officials said Thursday.
The scheduled flight
from the Pakistani city of Lahore to the Malaysian capital landed at
9:24 pm (1424 GMT) local time, on Wednesday, airport authorities said,
after a bomb threat was received while it was in mid-air. “At 8:45 pm
(1345 GMT) Malaysia Airports received information from Pakistan
International Airline Headquarters informing of an aircraft bomb
warning for Airbus 313 Flight PK 898 from Lahore,” the airport
authorities said in a statement. “The flight PK898 safely landed at
9:24pm. The airline confirmed a total of 164 passengers, 3 cockpit crew
and 10 cabin crew on board.” Airport authorities said the aircraft had
been parked at an isolated bay at the airport while police investigate. Online
