A Boeing 753 of Condor Airlines plane made an emergency landing at Chania airport on the island of Crete on Thursday night. There was information that a bomb was on the plane. 281 people on board and the crew have been evacuated.
Condor flight DE69 was flying from the tourist resort Hurghada in Egypt to Dusseldorf in Germany, when it diverted its course and landed on the island of Crete.
According to preliminary information, somebody found a note in one of the plane’s WCs reading “bomb” in English.
The pilot informed the Air Control Tower and asked permission for emergency landing.
The plane landed in an isolated section of the airport in Chania close to the US base at 8:47 pm Thursday. F-16 fighter jets escorted the plane after it entered the Athens FIR.
Update: @Condor #DE69 Hurghada (HRG) to Dusseldorf (DUS) has diverted to Chania (CHQ) in Greece after squawking 7700 general emergency about 40 minutes ago. Flight is operated by a Boeing 757-300.
Playback on @flightradar24: https://t.co/ik921U7qyx pic.twitter.com/co8hkqfXLu
— Fanda! Aviation News (@FandaAviation) August 16, 2018
Passengers and crew were evacuated in safety.
Bomb disposal units from the Army and the Police have been deployed to search the plane but also the passengers’ luggage. Also a specially trained dog is to take part in the search operation.
Strong forces from the Fire Service have been deployed at the airport as well.
According to local media, the search cannot start before 23:23 p.m. for security reasons. It is the time the plane was scheduled to land in Dusseldorf.
Condor DE69 at Chania airport – exclusive pictures by zarpanews.gr
The bomb threat was found while the plane was in Egypt’s FIR.
Condor Airlines posted about the emergency landing on Twitter with almost two hours delay and said that passengers and crew were taken to hotels in Chania.
Aufgrund einer notwendigen Sicherheitsmaßnahme musste der Flug DE69 von Hurghada, Ägypten nach Düsseldorf in Chania auf Kreta, Griechenland zwischenlanden. Das Flugzeug ist sicher gelandet und die Fluggäste und Crew werden in Chania in Hotels untergebracht. (1/2)
— Condor Airlines News (@Condor) August 16, 2018
On a second Tweet a little later, Condor Airlines said that the flight to Dusseldorf is scheduled for early Friday morning. The Airlines apologizes for the inconvenience and stresses passengerss and crew’s safety comes always first.
Der Weiterflug ist für morgen früh geplant. Wir entschuldigen uns bei unseren Fluggästen für die Unannehmlichkeiten und versichern, dass die Sicherheit der Fluggäste und Crew immer an erster Stelle steht. (2/2)
— Condor Airlines News (@Condor) August 16, 2018
The night will be long at Chania airport.
Check the updates Friday noon: controls checks concluded, airplane still in Chania airport.
