Bomb threat grounds Athens-bound plane
An Olympic Airlines plane bound for Athens from New York with 195 people aboard made an emergency landing in Ireland on Sunday after authorities received a phone tip-off that that there was a bomb on board. An unknown man called Athens International Airport while the plane was traveling over the Atlantic Ocean and said that there had been a bomb placed on board for «Saddam (Hussein),» the recently executed Iraqi dictator. The pilot was instructed to land the aircraft, an Airbus 340, in Shannon, western Ireland at around 6.30 a.m. (Athens time). Those on board disembarked while the plane was checked by police who gave the all clear for departure some six hours later. An unknown man speaking English with an Arab accent had warned that there was a bomb aboard the plane, an airline spokesman said.
