Four planes make emergency landing in Prague over bomb threat

Four planes made emergency landings at Prague’s Ruzyně airport after threats that an explosive device might be on board. They are two EasyJet flights, one Ryanair flight and one Austrian Airlines flight. Police rate the threat as low, but bomb disposal experts will check every aircraft.

What the police say

“We are investigating threats that an explosive device was planted on board four planes heading to Prague. We assess the seriousness of the threat as low, but we check everything, and every aircraft will undergo a pyrotechnic inspection,” said Foreign Police spokesman Josef Urban shortly before 11:00.

Shortly after 10:00, police patrols and a mobile customs X-ray unit began arriving at the aircraft on the apron. According to Richard Klíma, a spokesman for the Air Traffic Control company, a security committee is meeting at the airport.

Forced landings in other countries

A similar situation has played out outside Czechia as well. In France, a diverted plane landed at the Évreux air base. According to media reports, it was an Aer Lingus Airbus A320 flying from Dublin to Rome. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the authorities were monitoring developments.

A Wizz Air plane flying from Milan to Warsaw also made an emergency landing. According to FlightAware, it turned around in Czech airspace and landed in Vienna. It is not yet known whether a bomb threat was behind this case as well.

These incidents followed at least seven planes that had already made forced landings this week because of similar threats. Warsaw’s airport was closed at the time, and fighter jets were scrambled in Rome, Euronews reminds readers.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz