ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Vistara airline flight en route to Germany from India made a forced landing in Turkey on Friday following a bomb threat, Turkish officials said.
Flight VTI027 from Mumbai to Frankfurt, with 234 passengers and 13 crew members on board, landed at the airport in Erzurum, in eastern Turkey, and the passengers were safely evacuated from the plane, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.
Two bomb disposal experts and two search dogs were going through the plane while the airport was closed to all departures and landings, Gov. Mustafa Ciftci told reporters.
By evening, there was no information that any explosive device had been found.
According to Ciftci, a flight attendant had found a note in one of the lavatories alleging there was a bomb on board, after which the plane diverted and landed in Erzurum, 870 kilometers (540 miles) from Ankara, Turkey’s capital. The identity of the individual who had left the note was not immediately known.
Initially following the discovery of the threat, the aircraft planned to land at an airport in Ordu, northern Turkey, but was rerouted due to construction work to the neighboring city of Trabzon before authorities redirected it to Erzurum.
Erzurum was chosen because of the less congested air traffic there, Ciftci said.
Ciftci said all departures and landings at Erzurum have been suspended until 9 p.m. local time.
Vistara said on the social media platform X that the plane was diverted to Erzurum airport due to security reasons, adding that it had landed safely.
