Passenger causes bomb panic on Turkish Airlines plane

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

A passenger on a Turkish Airlines (THY) plane flying to the Turkmenistan capital Ashkhabad from Istanbul caused panic after shouting that he had a bomb attached to his body, showing a lump concealed under his clothes that later turned out to be a liquor bottle.

The passenger, who is of Turkmen origin, stirred up the Istanbul-Ashkhabad THY flight late on Nov. 10, just before take-off.

Police came to the plane following a call from the captain. The passenger, after refusing to be searched, was removed from the plane and detained by police, who then determined that the lump under his clothes was a liquor bottle.

The plane was taken to an empty park area, evacuated and searched, though no suspicious situation was found. All passengers were again taken through security checks and the flight was later able to take off for Ashkhabad.

Recently, a mistaken announcement of an emergency water landing on a Turkish Airlines flight from Athens to Istanbul caused panic on Oct. 20. The announcement that the plane would be making an emergency landing on the sea came just minutes after the pilot’s announcement that the plane was preparing to land in Istanbul. It was later determined that the automatic announcement was made after a member of the cabin crew accidentally pushed the emergency button.