Bomb threat forces plane down

2004-06-30 07:53

Munich - A Turkish man was injured and arrested after issuing a bomb threat aboard a Free Bird airline Airbus A320 flight bound for Turkey, which was forced to make an emergency landing in Munich late on Tuesday, police said.

All 150 passengers and seven crew members exited the plane safely after the 28-year-old Turk jumped out of an exit door and onto the tarmac, seriously injuring himself in the process.

He was found to be unarmed and no bomb was discovered during a subsequent search of the plane, belonging to the Turkish carrier Free Bird, originally bound for Istanbul.

While enquiries were continuing, police said this did not appear to be a political or terrorist act but rather motivated by personal problems.

Wanted to provoke his wife

The arrested man had apparently sought to provoke his wife, currently living in Germany, to return to Istanbul, although he had not apparently sought to hijack the plane and divert its route.

Ten minutes after the plane took off uneventfully from Munich's Franz Joseph Strauss airport at 20:47, he told a member of the cabin staff that there was a bomb onboard and that he was willing to blow the plane up.

He didn't gain access to the cockpit and the pilot sounded the alarm and headed straight back to Munich, making an emergency landing about 40 minutes after take-off.

After the landing, the distressed young Turkish man jumped from the plane, incurring injuries described as "not negligible but not life-threatening".

Police were interviewing the relieved crew and passengers, most of whom were Turkish, as part of their enquiries.

- AFP