Bomb threat 'not serious'
2004-10-05 15:03
Larnaca - A Lufthansa flight en route to Israel landed at Larnaca airport in Cyprus on Tuesday afternoon after receiving a bomb alert that subsequent investigations revealed were not serious, the company said.
A civil aviation official said the Boeing 747 from Frankfurt landed at 15:08.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the pilot had given no reason for the unscheduled landing and had asked for permission to depart as soon as possible.
In Berlin, a spokesperson for the airline said a bomb alert had been received just after Flight LH 686 left Frankfurt, western Germany, at 10:10 with 331 passengers and 18 crew aboard.
"We came to the conclusion with the German authorities that this alert was not serious. We wanted to fly through to Tel Aviv but the Israeli authorities forced us to land in Larnaca," a spokesperson said.
Earlier, Israeli military sources in Jerusalem also spoke of fears about a bomb on board and said that the Israeli air force was on a state of "very high alert".
The internet edition of Israel's Haaretz newspaper said F-16 fighter jets were scrambled to escort the plane and keep it out of Israeli air space.
A Lufthansa spokesperson in Athens said the passengers would be submitted to a hand-luggage search first, and that the flight should be delayed by four hours.