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Turkish Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Barcelona after in-flight alert

Turkish Airlines planes parked at Atatürk International Airport in Istanbul, 5 April, 2019
Turkish Airlines planes parked at Atatürk International Airport in Istanbul, 5 April, 2019 Copyright  AP Photo
Copyright AP Photo
By Rafael Salido & Gavin Blackburn
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The Airbus A321, which was carrying 148 passengers and seven crew, was directed to a designated area for inspection after it landed at around 11:00 am.

A Turkish Airlines flight made an emergency landing at Barcelona's El Prat Airport on Thursday after a passenger created an in-flight wireless network whose name contained a bomb threat, a spokesperson for the airline said.

As flight TK1853 from Istanbul was approaching its destination in Barcelona, "it was detected that a passenger established an in-flight internet access point and set the network name to include a bomb threat," Yahya Üstün said.

As a result, the aircraft made an emergency landing, escorted by two fighter jets, one Spanish and one French.

Image of the Turkish Airlines flight path
Image of the Turkish Airlines flight path Flightradar24

The Airbus A321, carrying 148 passengers and seven crew, was directed to a designated area for inspection after landing at around 11 am.

The operation involved personnel from the Civil Guard, National Police and the Catalonia regional police and fire service.

Sources at the Interior Ministry later indicated that the presence of explosive material on board had been ruled out, although the investigation remains open.

Spain’s Civil Guard police force said that operations at the airport were continuing normally.

Additional sources • AP

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