Ottawa: A Turkish Airlines plane flying from New York to Istanbul was diverted to Canada Sunday because of a bomb threat, but police said no explosives were found.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the plane, with 256 passengers and crew, landed at Halifax Stanfield International Airport early after being alerted to the bomb threat.
No bomb was found, however, during an exhaustive search of the aircraft and the passengers’ luggage, and the plane was given the all-clear early today to continue its journey.
‘‘The Turkish Airlines aircraft is scheduled to continue on to Istanbul later in the morning. The investigation into the threat is ongoing,’’ the RCMP said on Twitter. ‘‘RCMP completed search of Turkish Airlines aircraft and luggage at 4:25am, no explosive device found.’’ The bomb threat comes with aviation officials on high alert for possible acts of terror following the November 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead and hundreds injured. Authorities received the threat late Saturday at 22:50 (2.50 GMT) after the plane had departed New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport.
The aircraft landed in Halifax in Nova Scotia shortly before 5.00 (GMT). The RCMP, in a series of statements on Twitter, said police searched the plane and passengers’ suitcases ‘‘using police dogs trained in explosives.’’
‘‘RCMP is looking to establish the origin of the threat and identify the person or persons responsible,’’ it said. Turkey’s ambassador to Ottawa, Selcuk Unal, told the state-run Turkish news agency Anatolia that Ankara was ‘’following the developments.’’
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