The Turkish Airlines flight TK15 from Istanbul traveling to Sao Paulo, Brazil was diverted today due to a bomb threat earlier today. The plane, a Boeing 777, carrying 256 passengers, had to go for an emergency landing in Casablanca, Morocco around 12:30 GMT.
The concern came when a note with the word “bomb” was found in the lavatory midway through the flight. After landing, authorities searched the plane, however, no explosives have been found. An unattended computer was also allegedly found on board, however had no signs of being connected to a bomb. The Moroccan aviation authorities have also reported that Casablanca Airport is back to normal operations following the incident.
Turkish Airlines issued a statement to The Telegraph about the flight diversion, “The necessary investigation on-board has now terminated and it has become clear that the notice in question was untrue. Our passengers will be retaken on board and the flight will continue to Sao Paolo after the termination of cleaning and refueling processes, and after the provision of necessary permissions.”
The problem for Turkish Airlines is that this threat comes after a similar occurrence that just happened yesterday.
Another Turkish Airlines flight departing from Istanbul and going to Tokyo was forced to return to the airport when a note reading “C-4 cargo” was also found in the plane lavatory. C-4 is a common type of plastic explosive.
After a 1:30 AM local time takeoff on Sunday in Istanbul, a cabin crew member noticed the message, and afterwards immediately notified the pilot. The pilots of Turkish Airlines flight TK-52 requested an emergency landing at the Ataturk Airport and after circling around the Black Sea airspace the flight landed at 4:30 AM local time. In the similar circumstance, explosives were also not found.
In both instances, yesterday and today, passengers were taken off the plane to the terminal so the planes would be alone, and people safe from harm. Police search teams sifted through all of the cabins, cargo sections, and through luggage.
The flight will continue its route to Sao Paolo when the authorities determine it is safe to do so, however, there will be an ongoing investigation regarding the consecutive threats.
