Was it a bomb threat? A plane with more than 160 passengers lands at BER on an unscheduled basis. After a search the all clear is given. But the incident remains obscure.
Schönefeld (dpa) – An aircraft with 165 passengers landed unscheduled at Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Schönefeld because of a possible security threat on board.
Police examined passengers and luggage on the Ryanair flight on Sunday evening. The search was ended without a finding, as the federal police announced. There is no danger from the machine. With a delay of eight hours, the passengers from Dublin, Ireland, were able to continue their journey to Krakow, Poland, with a replacement aircraft.
Ryanair apologized to the passengers for the “inevitable delay”. The crew had been informed by the German aviation security control about a possible security threat on board the Boeing 737-800. She therefore headed for BER at around 8 p.m. as the nearest airport.
“BZ” and “Bild” reported that there was a bomb threat. The federal police only spoke of a telephone notification from Ryanair, due to which a risk could not be ruled out. Further details were not given for tactical reasons.
For the unscheduled landing, the aviation authority had issued an exception to the night flight ban at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. At the remote parking position of the aircraft, there were numerous police cars with flashing lights, sniffer dogs searched the passengers’ luggage placed on the apron. The luggage was finally brought inside the airport.
The passengers were not able to continue their journey until early Monday morning shortly before 4:00 a.m. The federal police had previously classified the situation as harmless. The Brandenburg police are now investigating the case.
Last summer, a Ryanair plane had to make a safety landing on its way from Dublin to Krakow because of an anonymous bomb threat. Irish media reported that nothing was found during the search in Stansted in Great Britain.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210531-99-799849 / 8
Press release Federal Police
