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9/11 bomb threat grounds plane

September 11, 2015

German authorities say a United Airlines flight was ordered back to Frankfurt after takeoff because of a bomb threat. Police searched the plane and passengers but found nothing.

https://p.dw.com/p/1GVN0
Deutschland Tower Flughafen Frankfurt am Main
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. v. Erichsen

On Friday, German authorities ordered a United Airlines flight to return to Frankfurt after a bomb threat was reported. However, after a thorough search of the plane, its passengers and their belongings, authorities detained nobody.

Christian Altenhofen, a spokesman for Germany's federal police, told The Associated Press that the warning specifically named Flight 902, and that the date - the 14th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the US - "made us take the threat seriously." Altenhofen added that the airline ultimately canceled Friday's flight and rescheduled it for Saturday.

The threat was received Friday afternoon by email. The plane was carrying about 350 people.

mkg/kms (dpa, AP)