Bomb threat diverts a 2nd US-bound flight
For the second time in three days, yesterday an Olympic Airlines passenger jet flying from Athens to New York was forced to make an emergency landing on the way following bomb threats. The Airbus A340 took off from Athens Airport with 295 passengers and a 12-strong crew at 1.13 p.m. At 3.55 p.m., an anonymous caller told Eleftherotypia daily there was a bomb on the plane due to explode within an hour’s time. The plane was duly diverted to Shannon Airport in southwestern Ireland – this time without the fighter jet escort that accompanied the same Olympic Airlines flight to London’s Stansted Airport on Sunday. All passengers were safely evacuated while airport officials looked for a bomb. Sunday’s bomb threat turned out to be a hoax. Nevertheless, security measures for US-bound flights are so intense that all threats have to be taken seriously.
