Turkish plane diverted after threat
November 22, 2015
Officials at Halifax Stanfield International Airport said on Sunday that Turkish Airlines Flight 2 with 256 people on board had landed safely after being diverted from its destination of Istanbul because of a bomb threat.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated that it was "looking to establish the origin of the threat and identify the person or persons responsible" for the threat.
Police will be "searching the Turkish Airlines plane using police dogs trained in explosives," the RCMP said, adding that "luggage will also be searched by police dogs."
Authorities received the bomb threat late on Saturday at 10:50 p.m. local time (3:50 a.m. UTC) after the plane had departed from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
It was at least the second time in the past week that a flight leaving the United States was diverted to Canada after a threat.
Two Air France flights bound for Paris from the United States were diverted for several hours on Tuesday following anonymous bomb threats.
Security officials have been on high alert since "Islamic State" militants killed at least 130 people in Paris on November 13.
das/sms (AFP, Reuters, AP)