Turkish Airlines plane resumed its trip to Istanbul around 6:50 a.m. AT Sunday after being diverted to Halifax Stanfield International Airport because of a bomb threat.
Five passengers were too afraid to re-board the plane and will have to make their own travel arrangements to get to Turkey.
No explosives were found on the Turkish Airlines plane, said RCMP.
Turkish Airlines Flight #2 was travelling from New York City to Istanbul when the threat was made.
RCMP searched the aircraft and luggage with police service dogs. At 4:25 a.m AT on Sunday the RCMP completed their search and no explosives were found.
The plane was then released back to Turkish Airlines, said RCMP.
There were 256 passengers and crew members on board, the Halifax airport tweeted early Sunday morning. There were no injuries.
The RCMP said in a series of tweets that the threat came in at 11:50 p.m. AT on Saturday.
“RCMP is looking to establish the origin of the threat and identify the person or persons responsible,” one tweet said.
Police said they will not comment on the details of the bomb threat.
Peter Spurway, a spokesperson for the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, said the airport was notified of the diverted flight shortly after midnight. It landed at 12:53 a.m. AT on Sunday.
The passengers disembarked about an hour later and were transported by bus to the terminal, where Spurway said they would be interviewed by the RCMP and processed by the Canada Border Services Agency.
This is the second flight diverted to Halifax due to a bomb threat in less than a week. On Tuesday night, a bomb threat forced Air France Flight 55 to divert to the airport with 262 people aboard.
Police searched the plane and found no explosives. That flight left Halifax on its way to France around 3:45 a.m. AT Thursday morning.
The Halifax Stanfield International Airport is no stranger to hosting planes in trouble. The airport has said it receives a couple of diverted planes every month, or about 20 in the run of a year.
Those planes divert to Nova Scotia for various reasons, including mechanical trouble or medical emergencies.
CBC News
A plane of the Turkish Airlines to link Istanbul to New York was diverted to Canada because of a bomb threat. The transfer of passengers and crew members was carried out safely at the Halifax airport.
A bomb threat caused a change in flight plan for an aircraft company Turkish Airlines between New York and Istanbul. The aircraft, carrying 256 passengers and crew members, was diverted to Canada.
The Canadian mounted police (RCMP) said it had landed safely in Halifax, capital of Nova Scotia in the east. “The RCMP is trying to establish the origin of this threat and to identify the person or persons responsible,” she said on Twitter.
Police said no details would be given on the bomb threat. “This report to the investigation,” said the RCMP in Nova Scotia. The aircraft was searched by police with dogs trained to detect explosives. Halifax Airport has specified that the transfer of the 256 passengers and crew members of the aircraft was carried out without a hitch.
The bomb threat was received on Saturday at 10:50 p.m. local (2:50 GMT) after takeoff the plane of the Turkish company of the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The plane landed in Halifax shortly before 1 am (5:00 GMT).
This incident comes as civil aviation officials are on high alert following the attacks of 13 November which made 130 dead and 350 injured in Paris. Two Air France flights had been diverted earlier this week due to bomb scares.
With AFP and Reuters
France 24 (via Google Tranlaste)
