Bomb threat causes Korean Air flight to make emergency landing

A Korean Air flight that departed from Vancouver International Airport flew back under escort of F-15 fighters after receiving a bomb threat and landed a nearby air base Tuesday.

The call was found to be false threat and the plane took off after undergoing a safety check.

Korean Air said, “The Boeing 777-200 KE072 that was headed to Incheon from Vancouver made an emergency landing at the nearby COMOX air base after receiving a call from the Korean Air call center in Los Angeles, saying ‘Explosives were planted in a Korea Air flight bound for Incheon from Vancouver.’”

“No risky materials were found through a safety inspection, so after refueling, the plane began operation,” said the airline, adding, “It was apparently a prank call.”

The plane was carrying 12 crew and 134 passengers, including four children. None suffered injury during the emergency landing.

According to Korean Air, the plane took off at 2:55 p.m., decided to fly back at 3:20 p.m., or 25 minutes after take-off after getting the threat, and made an emergency landing at the air base, about 120 kilometers west of the Vancouver airport at 3:40 p.m., two hours after take-off. The Oregon-based U.S. air base sent two F-15 fighters to escort the airplane.

Vancouver airport staff had all passengers to get off the plane and conducted a safety inspection of carry-on baggage. Because of this, passengers had to wait for a long time. The plane was supposed to arrive at Incheon International Airport at 5:50 p.m. Wednesday.

The airplane also received the same threat call Monday. As the call was made before take-off, departure was delayed for two hours due to a safety inspection. The suspects who made the two phone threats Monday and Tuesday remain unknown, but the airplane said it believes the same person made both calls.

A Korean Air source said, “Police in Vancouver will begin investigation.”

gene@donga.com