Turkish Airlines bomb threat: Passengers told to 'search own bags'
A Turkish Airlines flight from Texas was forced to divert to Shannon Airport, Ireland, after a handwritten bomb threat.
The plane was en route to Istanbul when the diversion occurred after cabin crew found the note on board.
See also: Man grounds flight after making bomb joked while flirting
See also: British tourist causes chaos at Bali airport with 'toy bomb'
One of the 209 passengers, Erez Lieberman Aiden, told how they were woken in the night and asked to search their own luggage.
It did not emerge until later that there had been a bomb threat so passenger panic was not immediately sparked.
Erez said that the pilot attempted to reassure passengers as they came into land at Shannon Airport on Sunday.
Emergency services were waiting for on the ground for the plane's arrival.
It took around an hour for all the passengers to disembark before they were moved to a secure part of the airport as officials swept the plane.
No explosive devices were found on board.
Erez live-tweeted the event:
We were woken up in the middle of the night by crew and asked to search our own bags. #TK34 (3/19)
— Erez Lieberman Aiden (@erezaterez) January 24, 2016
Later on, they had us get in the aisles and starting stripping the cushions off the chairs. #TK34 (4/19)
— Erez Lieberman Aiden (@erezaterez) January 24, 2016
The crew were clearly well meaning. I am grateful to them for remaining composed. #TK34 (5/19)
— Erez Lieberman Aiden (@erezaterez) January 24, 2016
At the same time, they obviously were not prepared for this scenario. #TK34 (6/19)
— Erez Lieberman Aiden (@erezaterez) January 24, 2016
Asking passengers to search their own bags for bombs is not a good plan. #TK34 (7/19)
— Erez Lieberman Aiden (@erezaterez) January 24, 2016
The only official word any of us recieved, until several hours post-landing, was that there was a "security event." #TK34 (8/19)
— Erez Lieberman Aiden (@erezaterez) January 24, 2016
Still, at some point after the search, I noticed that we had changed course from Istanbul. #TK34 (9/19)
— Erez Lieberman Aiden (@erezaterez) January 24, 2016
So I paid $15 for internet and started googling for info. #TK34 (10/19)
— Erez Lieberman Aiden (@erezaterez) January 24, 2016
Eventually, I started to get information from google indicating a bomb threat on our flight. #TK34 (12/19)
— Erez Lieberman Aiden (@erezaterez) January 24, 2016
The Shannon staff rumor is that there was a napkin with "bomb" and maybe other writing found in the rear restroom. #TK34 (17/19)
— Erez Lieberman Aiden (@erezaterez) January 24, 2016
I am grateful to the crew of Turkish Airlines for getting the flight safely to Shannon. #TK34 (19/19)
— Erez Lieberman Aiden (@erezaterez) January 24, 2016
Here's an image of the plane on the ground. pic.twitter.com/lf9xZPEuPD
— Erez Lieberman Aiden (@erezaterez) January 24, 2016
According to Sky News and the Mirror, a spokeswoman for Shannon Airport said: "The aircraft landed safely at 11.02am and all passengers have now disembarked from the aircraft.
"The incident is now the subject of a follow-up investigation by an Garda Siochana."
