Bomb threat against Jetstar flight in Japan (video)
A caller who appeared to be based in Germany made a bomb threat against a Jetstar flight in Japan on Saturday. The suspect called Narita Airport on Saturday morning in Japan time and said in English that he had planted a bomb on Jetstar Flight 501, according to the airline operator. The flight was headed to Fukuoka from Narita.
Jetstar said the caller demanded to speak with the “manager,” and it was unclear who this referred to. The caller believed to be a man, then claimed to have put 100 kilograms of explosives in the aircraft’s cargo hold.
The airline operator received the information from Narita Airport about 30 minutes after the threat came in. A passenger told reporters there was an in-flight announcement that the plane would make an emergency landing. The flight was then diverted to Chubu airport.
After the plane touched down, it was announced that a bomb might have been planted inside the plane, Japan Times reported.
The flight’s 136 passengers exited the plane on emergency slides, and five passengers sustained minor injuries. However, the airline operator said that no one was hospitalised.
Following the threat, some flights due to depart from Chubu Airport were delayed or cancelled. The threat came at the start of a three-day weekend in Japan. The departure lobby for domestic flights was crowded with passengers seeking boarding pass refunds and transferring to other flights, Reuters reported.
Chiba Prefecture police said they were investigating the incident on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business.
A former Japan Airlines captain said the captain of the plane would not have taken off if he had known there was a bomb threat. The former captain said an investigation was needed to determine if the information could have been relayed sooner.
Jetstar Airways said in a statement…
“Jetstar Japan is working closely with the Chubu airport and local authorities to investigate the situation.”
The airline declined to comment any further.
