Email bomb threat forces Air China plane to return to Nagoya
NAGOYA —
A China-bound Air China jetliner on Friday returned to Central Japan International Airport near Nagoya after the airline’s Japan office received a bomb threat hours before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, the transport ministry said. Air China delayed the departure of four other flights from Japan’s Narita and Fukuoka airports to check the aircraft.
Air China’s Tokyo office received an email at around 12:50 p.m. threatening that aircraft would be blown up unless the Chinese airline stopped its operations, the ministry said, adding that the threat was apparently meant to disrupt the Beijing Olympics.
Air China’s Flight 406, a Boeing 737 jetliner bound for Chongqing via Shanghai, departed the central Japan airport, also known as Chubu airport, shortly past 3 p.m. but returned before 4 p.m. The 70 crew and passengers aboard the flight were unhurt.
The email, written in Japanese and received in the early afternoon, urged the airlines to suspend its flights or the writer would “bomb the aircraft,” said Transport Ministry official Fumio Yasukawa.
“We suspect this is a threat related to the Olympics,” he said, refusing to provide further details of the note or say whether any particular groups were suspected of sending it.
Wire reports
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NICOLE77
not sure that i would be keen to get back on the plane...
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some14some
expected move in Japan.
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Harry_Gatto
Obviously the schools are still out, how much longer before all the children are safely back in school and away from here?
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OssanULTRA
"expected move in Japan."
What was expected? That an airliner returned to where it left after the receipt of a threat of this nature? I would expect this type of action anywhere in any country.
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