Bomb threat on India’s Vistara Airlines flight forced to land in Türkiye was false, local governor says

ISTANBUL: A bomb threat that forced a flight operated by India’s Vistara Airlines to make an emergency landing in the eastern Turkish city of Erzurum on Friday (Sep 6) was false, the local governor said.

Turkish officials had said a piece of paper with “bomb on board” written on it was found in a lavatory on the aircraft, prompting bomb disposal teams to search the plane and evacuate its 234 passengers and 13 crew.

A Vistara spokesperson had said flight UK27 from Mumbai to Frankfurt diverted due to “a security concern”. The flight landed at Erzurum at 4.30pm local time (1.30pm GMT).

“As of 23.30pm, we have completed all search and examination operations. As a result of the work we carried out, we found that the bomb threat was unfounded,” Erzurum governor Mustafa Ciftci told reporters at the airport.

Ciftci also said a precautionary halt to landings and take-offs at the airport was lifted after inspections were completed.

“All flights coming or leaving from our province will now be able to fly comfortably,” he said.

Vistara said in a post on X that customers, crew and the aircraft were cleared by security agencies and that all necessary checks were conducted.

The airline also said it was sending an alternate aircraft to Türkiye by 12.25pm local time on Saturday to take the passengers to Frankfurt.