Bomb threat forces Vistara airline plane en route to Frankfurt to land in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Vistara airline flight en route to Germany made a forced landing in Turkey on Friday following a bomb threat, a Turkish official said.

Flight UK27 from Mumbai to Frankfurt, with 247 passengers and crew on board, landed at Erzurum airport, in eastern Turkey, Gov. Mustafa Ciftci told the state-run Anadolu Agency.

All passengers were evacuated from the plane and authorities were searching the luggage, Ciftci said.

HaberTurk television said the pilots decided to land after a passenger claimed there was a bomb on board after the aircraft entered the Turkish airspace.

Authorities also shut down the airspace over Erzurum as a precaution, the governor said.

Vistara said on the X media platform that the plane was diverted to Erzurum airport due to security reasons, adding that it had landed safely.