Passenger’s Wi-Fi name triggers bomb scare, forces Turkish Airlines emergency landing

A Turkish Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Barcelona Thursday morning after a passenger created a hoax threat by setting up a Wi-Fi hotspot suggesting there was a “bomb threat” on board, according to airline officials.  

The emergency protocol was alerted when Flight 1853 was already approaching its intended designation at Barcelona-El Prat Airport from Istanbul. Euronews said the Airbus A321, which was carrying 148 passengers and seven crew members, was directed to a designated area for inspection upon landing. 

“​​It was detected that a passenger had created an in-flight internet access point and named the network in a way that included a bomb threat,” Yahya Üstün, senior vice president of communications at Turkish Airlines, said in a post on X.

Simpleflying reported that the flight was cruising over the Mediterranean when a flight crew member noticed an alarming Wi-Fi name that reportedly said, “I have a bomb, everyone will die.”  

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Necessary safety procedures were immediately initiated following the alert, Üstün said. 

The aircraft was then escorted by two fighter jets, one Spanish and one French, during the emergency protocol, Euronews reported.  

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Following the aircraft’s safe landing, response crews inspected the plane and worked to identify the passenger who created the threatening Wi-Fi hotspot name, airline officials said. The operation involved Spanish authorities such as personnel from the Civil Guard, the National Police and Catalonia’s regional police and fire services, according to Euronews.

According to footage from the scene, a dog was deployed to examine the passenger’s luggage on the tarmac. 

However, “no irregularities were found” following a thorough inspection, according to officials.  

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“Our aircraft’s return flight will be carried out after the completion of passenger boarding,” Üstün said. 

Operations at Barcelona-El Prat Airport resumed normally following the explosive scare, Reuters reported.

Reuters contributed to this report.